Ghosted after 4 rounds of interviews with a firm in Denver

I went through four rounds of interviews with a tech startup in Denver over 3 weeks. They asked for a full project plan as part of the final round, which I spent a weekend on. Then radio silence for two weeks, and a generic rejection email. Who else has put in that much free labor only to get crickets back?

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blair_lewis855mo ago

The 4 rounds plus a project plan is the part that should make people furious - they basically got free consulting work out of you that they probably shopped around to other candidates too. I've heard from a recruiter friend that some startups do this intentionally to crowdsolve problems without paying a consultant. Next time when they ask for a project plan, email back saying you'll present it in person but won't leave a copy.

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victorross5mo ago

Don't you feel like this whole apply-and-pray thing is leaking into other parts of life now? I swear I've had friends treat me the same way, you know, you help them move a couch or plan a trip and then they just vanish until they need something else. It's like everyone's treating each other like a free trial these days, using up all the good stuff and then unsubscribing without a word. Four rounds of interviews is basically a part-time job at that point, especially with the project plan (which is just unpaid consulting, let's be real). The silence afterwards is the worst part, it's like they're hoping you'll just fade away so they don't have to own up to wasting your time.

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