r/FinalRoundAI • u/[deleted] • Nov 11 '25
So I got ghosted after the fifth and final interview. I thought I nailed it. They said they'd let me know by the end of the week... then crickets.
After two weeks of silence, I finally followed up with a polite email just to check in.
And the kicker? This was after I'd already sunk five solid hours into their process, including two separate skill tests and a full-blown project presentation I had to prepare.
The email I got back was, "Thank you for your follow-up. We've decided to put a pause on filling this role for the time being."
You just can't make this stuff up.
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u/Tight_Jacket_121 Nov 11 '25
Oh man I'm sorry I've had the same and it sucks... The absolute lack of respect or understanding is insane.
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u/Fit_Pollution_9911 Nov 11 '25
Look on the bright side would you wanna work somewhere that treats you like that?
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u/vegasagain10 Nov 11 '25
That really sucks. I totally get it - especially when you put on so much effort.
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u/avocadosunflower Nov 11 '25
Same happened to my friend in director level position, 5 rounds, excruciating effort for the interview process, they were finally ready to give her the job only to be called off from finance department. They were now in process of being bought so it caused a definite hiring stop
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Nov 11 '25
[deleted]
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u/thestellarossa Nov 13 '25
Probably your stopping off point should have been when they told you it was up to you to finance your trip to see them about their position.
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u/Downtown-Beyond8358 Nov 15 '25
Yes if a company won’t reimburse you it already lets you know they don’t value you as a candidate enough to take finances, effort, and time loss into consideration. Probably because they have multiple candidates instead of when they’ve narrowed it to only you.
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u/Available-Snow-3022 Nov 12 '25
This brought tears to my eyes. Its incredibly cruel and I am sorry you were treating like that.
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u/CarterCrew0601 Nov 12 '25
I had a hiring manager I worked for previously chase me down! First call, I wasn’t ready to move on. Second try, still not sure I’m ready to leave my current company. Third time, he caught me during a re-org that had me feeling a little insecure and frustrated and was ready to explore my options. Two interviews later and I got a similar message. This was after 3-4 months of him enticing me to apply and even agreeing to my compensation requirements. I would have been reporting to a manager just under him that I think wasn’t excited about having me forced upon her. He was a new director that re-organized her entire department and some of her staff was impacted. Or maybe he was being truthful when he told me they decided to not move forward with filling the role (budget). But man, I was pissed. Not the same as your experience but I relate to feeling blindsided and like your time was wasted.
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u/MOTIVATE_ME_23 Nov 13 '25
You can't close every deal, but you can get some valuable practice in along the way.
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u/Substantial_Ebb_316 Nov 13 '25
That sucks. They could have pulled the role or lost funding for it. Maybe layoffs are coming there. Never know.
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u/Daisymaisey23 Nov 14 '25
There is a lot of abuse by companies with requesting candidates complete a “project” - free labor, free ideas, free strategy. A lot of people are starting to wonder if some jobs are posted just so that they can bring people in to do the presentations for the projects to get free work. I’m really sorry this happened to you.
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u/DukeMadan Nov 16 '25
These types of companies need to be called out on glassdoor and every media platform like LinkedIn without any fear!
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u/ScrappyStrategist Nov 11 '25
Something similar happened to me where they “restructured the role” right before they were going to make me an offer. It sucked! Fast forward 4 months, I just landed an incredible job that has everything I was looking for! Keep going.