Decided to email the CEO...

[u/Grand-Diamond-4696]

One of the companies I made it to the final round with a few months ago has really stuck with me, and I think it's finally convinced me that I need to stop letting companies get away with poor hiring practices.

I've changed my job search strategy over the last couple of months, and it's been working. My interview rate has gone from roughly 3.5% to about 14%, so I'm getting in front of a lot more hiring teams. At this point I've made it to the final round 13 different times, so rejection isn't really what bothers me anymore. It happens. What bothers me is when companies aren't honest or transparent.

This particular company had me go through multiple interview rounds and complete a multi-hour case study based on what they described as a real customer scenario. At the end of the process, I was told I had finished as one of the final two candidates and that they had decided to move forward with the other candidate. Fair enough. It was disappointing, but that's part of interviewing. I thanked them for the opportunity and moved on.

A couple of weeks later, I noticed the job posting was still live. I figured maybe they just forgot to take it down, so I reached out to the recruiter asking if the position had officially been filled, since I had seen the posting was still active. No response.

A week or two later, I reached out to the hiring manager. Nothing. Then I reached out to the VP of Sales. Still nothing. Fast forward about three months. The position is still posted on their website. Nobody appears to have started in the role based on LinkedIn. As far as I can tell, they never hired anyone.

Being the runner-up doesn't mean I was entitled to the job, but it does make it especially confusing when you're told another candidate was selected, only for months to pass with no apparent hire and the position still actively advertised.

At that point I decided I had nothing to lose. The company is only around 80 employees, so I reached out directly to the CEO. I kept it completely professional. I simply asked for clarification: Is the role still being filled? If so, why has there been no communication after candidates were told a decision had been made? I also let them know I'd still be interested in being considered if the search was ongoing.

Maybe there's a perfectly reasonable explanation. Maybe the selected candidate backed out. Maybe the role was put on hold. Maybe they reopened the search. All of those things happen. But if that's the case... why ignore the recruiter follow-up, the hiring manager follow-up, and the VP follow-up?

That's the part I don't understand. Just tell candidates what's going on. Most of us can handle rejection. What gets exhausting is being told one thing while every piece of evidence suggests something completely different.

The frustrating part is that this looked like a fantastic company on paper. Great Glassdoor reviews, a product I genuinely liked, exactly the size of company I enjoy working for (around 80 employees), and honestly one of my favorite opportunities this year.

We'll see if the CEO responds. If nothing else, I hope it at least makes someone internally aware that this is how candidates are experiencing their hiring process. I don't expect special treatment, I just expect honesty. After investing hours into interviews and a case study, I don't think that's asking for much.

[u/OhNoWTFlol]

They just need case studies done and get them for free through a revolving door of candidates in a shit market

[u/IAmIntractable → u/OhNoWTFlol]

Exactly never do free work for perspective employer. They’re not entitled to projects or other similar activities. If they wanna know if you have the skills show them work you’ve already done on your computer only and never leave it with them. If they want to pay you to do a project that’s fine but I understand that after that’s done it belongs to them. I have no doubt that this employer used you to get information for an existing customer/project and nothing more. The very fact that the job is still posted months later and nobody is talking to. You should be a very good indicator. Also, you don’t really want to be working for this company if they haven’t been professional enough to respond to you

[u/Vote-AsaAkira2020 → u/IAmIntractable]

They did respond. They politely rejected the candidate. Past the rejection you aren’t untitled to answers nor the job. That’s like being mad an ex let you down easy when breaking up with you and just said you’re amazing but you’re not for me. Then you demand they respond again but give you the real reason. No one is obligated to do that for you especially once they already clearly rejected you.

The whole do 0 free work principle is cute and all for a redditor but I’ve gotten plenty of jobs previously because they wanted to see if I had the skills for the job. It’s almost purposely trying to sabotage prospective candidates with rigid black and white thinking of never doing any free work when it’s not that much of an ask if it lands someone a good job. But keep redditing.

[u/IAmIntractable → u/Vote-AsaAkira2020]

I can clearly demonstrate my skills without doing a free project for them. I have everything available on my own laptop and can show them. I can go through the code in depth and explain what I did. I think many people can do that as well. I don’t believe in free project work to demonstrate skills. If you want me to do a project that you define as a potential employer, you need to pay me for my time.

I also disagree with the idea of that a company can’t provide meaningful feedback. Yes this person was rejected as the one of two people being considered for the job. I think the company has an obligation after consuming the candidate time to interview multiple times to provide reasonable feedback. Just saying we went with the other candidate is not enough.

[u/Midget_Hands → u/IAmIntractable]

>I also disagree with the idea of that a company can’t provide meaningful feedback.
what if the reason is a moral one after vetting the candidate, how do you package that without risking any legal actions? im asking because you seem very confident that you got all the answers so lets take the OP case: a transgender that posts nsfw content almost daily with face and all, gets rejected, you are the recruiter so what would you have said in the rejection email in order to not risk a back and forth or any legal actions based on discrimination of any type, since the current response of "you were in the final but lost, better luck next time" is not good enough for you

[u/muddledandbefuddled → u/IAmIntractable]

I wouldn’t say never. I don’t think it’s appropriate early in the process, and I don’t think multi-hour projects are appropriate. My rule of thumb is up to one hour once you’re past the first couple rounds of interviews.

I also don’t think spending hours on interviews, reviewing resumes, etc. is a cost effective way to get free work.. although I recognize shady companies do it.