Lame! I have had a couple of ordinary experiences interviewing with start ups and Rivian was one of them. I interviewed a few months back. The I had good overall experience for the role. The recruiter called me on a weekend and asked if I am free to talk. Then he scheduled a technical interview 2 days later. The technical interview went well but the interviewer stated that there is one aspect of the job (say xx) that I need to learn ramp up and he concluded by saying that everyone comes in with some expertise and not all of them. Then HR failed to get back to me for over a month, and what followed was hilarious to say the least. The senior director started the interview late, then he asked do you xx experience. I said no but the technical interviewer mentioned that I don't have that experience and I would have to learn and ramp soon if I were to be hired. So the senior director said Ok and cut short the call within 10 seconds saying that's all he had for me and then sent a rejection email soon. I wonder if there is any communication between teams. How can they select me for the final round (probably) and reject saying I lack one aspect of a large skill set!

I found the position in LinkedIn. It is a fairly competitive ground but the recruiters are not biased and will want to get to know you to see if you fit the culture of the company which they take very seriously. I had 3 interviews with one 25 minutes presentation regarding my past experience. This is very similar to interviews of a full time position. Panelists type of interview. (In other words: good practice)