I was referred by a friend there. I was quite impressed by how the interview process got started, and I really thought Lyft cared about their recruiting process. I got to meet the hiring manager 1:1 for a coffee chat so that I understand more about Lyft and he understands more about my experience before we both decided to move forward with each other. I submitted my application after the chat, and I believe the chat went well, so the interview process started. The first official round was a 30-minute phone interview, it was 2 weeks after the application. The interviewer was late to the call, but I understood completely when you have busy back to back meetings. I've done it myself. We spent most of the time doing a case interview, and I didn't get chance to ask the interviewer any questions because we ran out of time. It took few days after the phone interview before I was told I was moved to the next round - take-home case study. It took 4 days between when I submitted my case to the decision was made that I was going on-site. Here is when things got interesting. I was staring at who my interviewers are, and realized, hey, none of them are from the department I applied for my job. I asked the recruiter, and she explained to me that Lyft has general hiring process, meaning they put people at where there is business need, but they can put me in the area I prefer. Okay, I am fine with that, plus the hiring manager did mention this to me at the beginning. And they changed my interview schedule to include someone from the team I'm interested in. Next, again, I stared at the titles of the people who are going to interview me, it just did't seem quite right... So I emailed the recruiter again and asked her which position I am interviewing for. I got the reply a day later that I am interviewing for a position that's not at the level I applied for. At this point, I cannot say I was happy, so I cancelled the interview.
It's not that I care so much about what the title of the job is, but I think it has something to do with basic respect. If I was told at the beginning or after the phone interview, or even after the take-home case interview that the job I would be interviewing for is not the same level as what I applied for, I would be fine because I was informed or consulted during the process. If I decided I am okay with the change or not okay, at least I had a chance to make decision for myself.
I talked to my friend after, and was told quite few people experienced changes for the job they applied for, and they decided to accept the jobs. It might just be me who care about respect then, and I still believe Lyft should respect their candidates by being transparent in the hiring process. After all, how can you tell your community that "you care" when you don't even care about your potential employees.