I have been through dozens of interviews in my career. This one was, without question, the absolute worst interview process I have ever experienced.
I had a strong executive interview and walked away genuinely excited about the role. Then everything fell apart in the most unprofessional way possible.
The recruiter told me a decision was coming early the following week. Radio silence. Suddenly a brand-new recruiter took over with zero explanation and promised an update by end of that same day. Late that afternoon they pushed it to “tomorrow — sorry for the delay!” The next day it became “the team is just wrapping up final rounds and committing to a decision by end of week. Thank you for your patience!”
Multiple broken promises. A surprise recruiter hand-off. Over ten days of vague, apologetic emails that did nothing but string me along. Zero transparency, zero feedback, zero respect for my time. It was painfully obvious they were keeping me warm as a backup candidate while they finished interviewing others — all while repeatedly dangling “today,” “tomorrow,” and “end of week” updates that never materialized.
This wasn’t just slow hiring. This was blatant disregard for candidates. The constant “thank you for your patience” lines felt insulting after the third time. No company that claims to care about culture and candidate experience should treat people this way.