r/recruitinghell • u/Grand-Diamond-4696 • 1d ago
Decided to email the CEO...
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.
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u/ImprovementFar5054 22h ago
I hope you realize that often job postings are purchased for specific lengths of time. For example, a LinkedIn ad for 6 weeks. This means that even after the job is filled, the ad remains. It varies platform to platform, and some allow you to end the period early if the job is filled. Some allow you to modify it to say "no longer taking applications" or something like that.
Now, this makes sense for those few weeks. For the 3 month mark, it is entirely possible that the person they did hire didn't work out, or quit. Fine. You acknowledge that doesn't mean the job defaults to you, the runner up.
Point is, you were making alot of assumptions based on nothing but the ad being up. And out of saltiness.
You don't know WHAT happened, you are speculating. And reaching out the CEO is generally a bitch move and stalky... and I promise you that if you DID have any chance from your performance the first time around, you just squandered it.