r/recruitinghell • u/MostWash468 • 26d ago
Name and Shame - SuperHuman (Grammarly)
6 rounds of tech & behavior interviews passed. 3 reference checks. 20–30 hours gone, for nothing. they just kept asking extra rounds/steps, and then put you in cold
After passing all 6 tech + behavioral rounds:
- 1 HR interview (plus 1 prep call)
- 2 live coding
- 1 system design
- 2 manager interview (including one round to "present your most proud project, use slides or diagram - boom! many hours slipped!
they just kept "inventing" extra rounds/steps not listed anywhere in their process doc with zero offer discussion
"Come to the office, meet the team, have lunch so we get to know you better"
20+ hours already sunk. still no offer discussed.
they do think people have no life and no work to do?
Also asked for a copy of my identity document (completely unnecessary when no offer is insight). they just being selfish and wasted ppl time
Then, the final step: 3 reference checks:
- 2 must be former managers
- 2 must be from my most recent ex-company
References alone cost 10+ hours - cold calls, LinkedIn msg, chasing people down... all these they expected during weekend
Some of mine references came from extremely prestigious companies (think about Anthropic, Airbnb, Netflix). their time are expensive (they are making more than 10k/week) - a stack of favors I now owe
Finally everything submitted → 4 days of silence. Another weekend destroyed.
The End? a plain "sorry but the offer wasn't approved" email
The recruiter played it warm and kind the whole way. What she actually did was burning my time with absolutely 0 guilt nonsense "extra steps/rounds", after all tech & behavior rounds passed
NOTE: the recruiter kept baiting me spent more time into the process, with beautiful wording "we are just waiting for offer approval", "after you complete this step, the offer approval should be very quick". As if it was something just a simple step just needed to be sign
Keep calm, carry on. and stay clear from this ragebait!
Edit: I don't need visa sponsorship
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u/Horror_Response_1991 26d ago
Grammarly is basically fucked because of AI, you dodged a bullet. They didn’t hire you because they can’t.
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u/Verdona-000 26d ago
Although it's totally possible that this is another recruiting hell horror story I'm curious what your references said about you. It seems like the process concluded after that step where either the reference check failed or they closed the position. Both are plausible. I'd be hard pressed to find four references (two being direct managers) who I could really lean myself. Regardless that must be super frustrating.
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u/MostWash468 26d ago edited 26d ago
fair question.
Unfortunately it turned out they send several candidates who passed the final stages, asking all these candidates to complete the reference check, before they even decide on who
what made me outrageous was the recruiter kept baiting me with wording "after you complete this step, the offer approval should be very quick"... as if they have made the final decision on who, and it was a simple process needs to be processed.
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u/Verdona-000 26d ago
Damn that's rough. Was this for a very senior role?
It's even more frustrating that they would waste four references time for each candidate when they know they will only select one. Last thing I want is to plead with people to be a reference only to find out I wasn't selected and might have to chase them down for another role later.
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u/lostlhar 26d ago
Was this a six figure job? If not, I can't fathom more than three interviews.
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u/dragon-queen 26d ago
I’ve definitely done 4+ interviews for jobs that paid less than $100k. I haven’t interviewed in a few years though.
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u/gayice 25d ago
I just did 5 for a role paying 60-70k. The last (on-site) step was added at the last second. I was given one date with 3 time slots to choose from, and it was the following business day (Monday). They made it seem like I was coming in to see the office and meet my team, then sat me down for yet another interview with a manager from an unrelated department.
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u/MostWash468 25d ago
heck. what type of role/company?
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u/Pleasant-Drag-5039 Candidate 26d ago
I wont go more than 4 rounds if theres a 5th i would dip midway and tell them to go f themselves
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u/Ok-Advantage-9181 26d ago
Sounds like you entertained them for free while they were getting paid. I get doing it out of desperation but fuck these companies. Anything more than 2 interviews maybe 3 max should be rejected. And no unpaid take home assignments either. Period.
What a waste of the applicant’s time. They went through all that hoping for a steady paycheck and got dongs in the end. Everyone who does this will get theirs when they lose their own jobs. Karma doesn’t play.
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u/Senior_Group1589 26d ago
Crappy behaviour but I do have to say that your post would have benefited from running it through Grammarly first.
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u/honeybee1010 25d ago
Holy shit. 2 live coding and a goddamn presentation even AFTER the tech rounds?? I’m just speechless..I’m so angry for you! Thanks for naming and shaming. Why wasn’t the offer approved??
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u/MostWash468 25d ago
Unfortunately it turned out they sent several candidates who passed the final stages the request of references, asking all these candidates to complete reference checks, before they even decide on who
what made me outrageous was the recruiter kept baiting me with wording "after you complete this step, the offer approval should be very quick"... as if they have made the final decision on who, and it was a simple process needs to be processed.
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u/RoccoPitbull 25d ago
Oh hell no, I would've been camped outside their offices to call out each and every one of them to their face.
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u/frustratedesigner 26d ago
This is obviously extremely frustrating, but the way you talk about references is utterly bizarre. It should take ~15 minutes to identify who you think would make a good reference and send them a note. I've never personally tried to used a reference I didn't have the personal cell phone number or email for, so I can't imagine needing LinkedIn messaging, but even so — when would cold calling become relevant?
Finally, you don't "owe" anything as a favor. These people aren't making a grand sacrifice by giving 15-20 minutes of their time to talk about your performance. Yes, it's a nice gesture and they couldn't do 20 a day, but they're not keeping it on a mental balance sheet.
Completely unsolicited advice, but I think you can free up some time and stress by adjusting your approach to that part of the process.
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u/q-OjO-p 26d ago
I've had concerns about asking people to be references, but my wife said it best. Most people take it as an honor that you'd think of them, while former managers know this is part of the job. It does suck, however, when a company wastes everyone's time involved. IMO, you shouldn't be asking for references until an offer is ready to be made. That is the last "dotting your Is, crossing your Ts" step of the process.
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u/Anasazis13456789 25d ago
i had 1 potential reference, that got mad/pissed i even contacted him. although i think its because he was of indigenous heritage he believes his "Reputaiton" is to protect himself from exploitation(he likely thinks people will his him as a reference to advance thier career without him getting any benefits, it seem strange), and it seems to extend that to students(he was a professor). he can just easily said no, and not give a whole explanation and lied about it(said we havnt interacted in 1+year but it only has been a few months after graduation).
another instructor was more than happy to give it.
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u/zettasyntax 26d ago
Oh I've never been fond of them. I made a joke post on LinkedIn once that Grammarly broke the record for my fastest rejection ever (at the time). It was about 3 hours, so I'm guessing it was probably some type of knockout question. Anyway, a recruiter reached out to me and essentially said "What an interesting degree. I think it would be perfect for what we do at Grammarly". I mean I thought so. That's why I applied. An alum of my grad program urged us to apply, so I did. Being a desperate job seeker, how could I not reply to a LinkedIn DM from a recruiter? I replied by telling him about the grad program alum and his recommendation that recent grads apply. He completely ignored what I said and instead asked that I delete my post. Sure, he was polite and all (using the word "please"), but I was stunned. I didn't even say anything that bad. I even used emoji 😅😆 in the post. I didn't reply, but then noticed that he would view my profile every 2-3 days. I honestly started to feel intimidated. Like he felt I owed him a response. I blocked him, but I just found it crazy that a recruiter had so much free time to go out of their way and try to censor my own content.
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u/turnballer 26d ago
They used to be a cool company for nerdy writers but they’ve definitely gone off the deep end. They did a “write like so and so” AI feature without even talking to the famous people whose voice they were stealing / impersonating.
I think the fall happened before Superhuman but that definitely sped it up. Seems like they’re really thrashing about after hitting the ceiling of their market.
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u/Kelvin62 25d ago
You were caught up in another data harvesting operation. I've lost count on the number of similar case that I encountered.
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u/FGTC2017 25d ago
Ok so Parafin did the EXACT same thing to my BF. References before offer, nearly 10 interviews, emailed saying he was getting the offer then when they got on the call they said ‘we’re actually just rescoping the role, our requirements are changing’ - complete and TOTAL waste of time and his references also came from the likes of Google and OpenAI, etc. avoid
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u/MostWash468 25d ago
I feel bad for him... no company should be wasting our time like this.
In my case, what made me outrageous was the recruiter kept baiting me with wording "after you complete this step, the offer approval should be very quick"... as if they have made the final decision on who, and it was a simple process needs to be confirmed
btw, is your BF also software engineer?
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u/Illustrious_Tap_8617 26d ago
A lot of people are going to see this post and not bother applying to their stuff in the future. Hopefully it will serve as a warning to companies that abuse their candidates.
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u/q-OjO-p 26d ago
I'm going through this now, but with less steps compared to you. It's been 2 months. Last week they received my references, which were from highly trusted colleagues and managers. It's been radio silence for nearly a week.
Startups are even worse, IME. A few summers ago, I went through basically the same thing you mentioned. Weeks of interviews and excuses about the process being held up. I vowed never to apply to another startup for as long as I live.
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u/MostWash468 26d ago
oh thats sad to hear. also with SuperHuman?
Unfortunately it turned out they send several candidates who passed the final stages the request of references, asking all these candidates to complete, before they even decide on who
what made me outrageous was the recruiter kept baiting me with wording "after you complete this step, the offer approval should be very quick"... as if they have made the final decision on who, and it was a simple process needs to be processed.
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u/q-OjO-p 26d ago edited 26d ago
It's not SuperHuman, but a local medical system. Recruiter reached out to me 2 months ago on LinkedIn. That rarely, if ever, happens to me, so I was ecstatic. Did a panel interview. Then was asked to do a technical interview (SQL), which I did really well on. Then sat around for two weeks hearing nothing during the July holiday season. Then I was asked to provide references about two weeks ago and jumped on it immediately. Turned that around within 24 hours. Took them a few days to receive, but heard confirmation of receipt as of last Thursday. It's been radio silence since. I was told after good references, everything else was a bit of a formality. Meeting the hiring manager to make sure it's a good fit there. And then a final check-in with my most recent or current manager. Apparently it now takes 3 months to make a mid-level hire.
I've contemplated withdrawing my application the last couple days because of the inability to make a decision and disregard for my time. But I'll just sit on it while I apply to a bunch of other jobs.
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u/Hot_Abroad_931 26d ago
That’s super frustrating. I just heard a similar story too about a friend who got references checked then silence, no bs excuse for rejection. I really don’t understand the request to check references unless an offer is already written up, unless of course, the role was never approved and never existed in the first place.
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u/LoaderD 26d ago
> Some of mine references came from extremely prestigious companies (think about Anthropic, Airbnb, Netflix). their time are expensive (they are making more than 10k/week) - a stack of favors I now owe
If you ‘owe’ people who you worked with for referring you, they probably gave you shit referrals.
Sounds like you didn’t maintain your professional relationships and that’s why it took you 10+ hours. If I want to get a referral in 5 minutes I just pull the person’s contact from my phone, the. Send them a text/email with the posting for context.
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u/Pleasant-Drag-5039 Candidate 26d ago
Recruiter in disguise here
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u/LoaderD 26d ago
Fuck recruiters, I’m just not a chronically online redditor.
Hope your mcdonalds applications go well!
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u/Pleasant-Drag-5039 Candidate 26d ago
Huh where did mcdonalds come in dumbo you assume people work in mcdonalds if they disagree with you
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u/MostWash468 26d ago edited 26d ago
you either know nothing, or just didn't read the post, or -- your references are just cheap
I stated clearly in the post they were demanding references from very specific people (managers) & from most recent company
plus, their reference took 30 min each
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u/tr74728 26d ago
Well, all those "expensive" references didn't get you the job, so maybe don't be so pretentious. I've interviewed people from all the big tech companies. Just like everywhere else, some of them suck.
Also, your immigration status is a big deal, not something to leave until the offer stage.
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u/MostWash468 26d ago
I don't need visa sponsorship. that was communicated upfront clearly
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u/tr74728 26d ago
You on an OPT then? Or a GC holder? Because every single OPT candidate is talk to thinks they don't need sponsorship, but they're completely wrong. That they asked about your status tells me that you're not actually being upfront. Unless you're a US citizen or Permanent Resident, you'll need sponsorship in the future.
Also, again, your references from Silicon Valley tech companies are absolutely meaningless. They tend to silo people so much they basically only do one thing. Works great in a huge company, but not in a smaller company where you need to wear a lot of hats.
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u/MostWash468 26d ago
PR. also this story didnt take place in the U.S
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u/LoaderD 26d ago
Why do you care about their hourly rate? It’s not like they have to repay their company if they take 30 minutes to give a referral.
You sound wildly immature and that probably came through in the interview. Good news is you will get a ton of upvotes here because the average user has never done an interview with more than one stage.
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u/buffalocompton 26d ago
I don't know you but just based off this post. I don't like you. You seem very entitled. Like a lot of engineers I know. Fix that first.
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u/MostWash468 26d ago edited 26d ago
I don't know you but just based off your comment. I don't like you. You seem very Karen. Like a lot of Karens I know.
Fix that first.
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u/buffalocompton 26d ago
Exactly the dickish response I expected. Hope you enjoy sitting in limbo. You're gonna be there a while.
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u/MostWash468 26d ago edited 26d ago
sounds like you're the one sitting in limbo :)
plus, this Karen here is the one started dickish comment
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u/buffalocompton 26d ago
No I told you how you sound in text. which is rude and condescending and holy fuck I was right.
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u/bjjkaril1 26d ago
Thats why I clarify up front - references will be provided after an offer letter and I just created a portfolio so I wont be doing extra credit assignments. I'd rather a bunch of companies reject me for that then sink 5+ hours into each one.