Highly Disorganized Interview Process, Contradictory Feedback, and Outdated Tech Mindset
I recently went through the interview process for a UAT/QA position with Cambridge University Press & Assessment. While I expected a professional and rigorous evaluation given the institution's name, the actual experience was a masterclass in organizational disarray and contradictory evaluation.
To begin with, the technical feedback provided by the interview panel was entirely detached from reality. The feedback claimed there were severe 'connectivity and microphone issues' during the interview. In reality, the connection was perfectly stable, the audio was clear, and at no point during the live video call did the interviewers mention any audio difficulties or ask me to repeat myself. Inventing technical errors to justify a rejection is highly unprofessional.
Furthermore, the panel's critique of my testing experience was completely contradictory. I explicitly outlined a focus on modern, industry-standard manual testing practices and tools like TestRail, while accurately clarifying that my automation exposure (Selenium/Python) was foundational. Despite this clear communication, the feedback fabricated a narrative that I was trying to market myself as an automation expert. It is deeply concerning that a senior hiring panel lacks the active listening skills to differentiate between a candidate's core competencies and their proactive upskilling.
Most alarming, however, is the departmentâs reliance on legacy frameworks. The panel actively criticized my lack of experience with outdated, legacy test management systems like HP Quality Center, condescendingly suggesting I look into them. The wider software testing industry moved away from these rigid, legacy platforms years ago in favor of modern agile tools. Being lectured on 'breadth of knowledge' by a team that champions obsolete software is entirely ironic.
The interview process felt like dealing with moving goalposts where the panel had already copy-pasted their feedback before the conversation even began. For an institution of this stature, the recruitment process is shockingly out of touch, defensive, and lacking basic integrity. I would advise skilled QA professionals with modern tech stacks to look elsewhere.








