A frustrated job seeker has taken to Reddit to vent about being ghosted by a company after completing five rounds of interviews. As per the post, the candidate was told by the hiring manager that an offer would be sent “soon” — only to be met with radio silence for the next three weeks.
Despite multiple follow-ups, the only response received was an automated message stating that the company was “reviewing candidates.”
“I went through five rounds of interviews with this company. The hiring manager literally said in the last call, ‘We’ll be sending you an offer soon.’ Then nothing. No email, no update, just silence. That was three weeks ago. I’ve followed up twice, and the only response I got was an automated ‘we’re reviewing candidates’ message. I’m so tired of how normal this has become,” the user wrote. “The amount of emotional energy it takes to prep, stay hopeful, and then get ghosted is brutal,” the post read.
The post resonated with hundreds of users who shared similar experiences, calling out the growing trend of “interview ghosting” in the corporate world — where candidates are left without any closure after multiple rounds of interviews.
Many commenters argued that a simple “we went in another direction” would be a basic courtesy.
As one user put it, “Five??? Not okay. I got blown off after three by being told ‘the role was no longer being offered and would be replaced with a new role once the company’s needs were determined’. The waste of candidate time is outrageous.”
“Ugh, that’s the worst. Happened to me once after months of interviews and it just wrecked my motivation for a bit. It’s wild how normalised that’s become, like we’re not even people anymore, just ‘applicants’,” a user commented.
A third user wrote: “Any kind of compliments or saying an offer is on the way is inappropriate and a warning sign. An offer only exists when its made. Never believe compliments, its the kiss of death. Best way to go about it is move forward. Keep looking, this is lame. Its a organisation’s market and more like a game market IMO.”
“Call the recruiter directly! I did the same when I was in a similar situation. Didn’t get selected, but honestly, it helped my mental health,” a fourth user commented.