Six weeks of interviews went into landing a position at a mid-sized tech firm for BebopDrifter8. The process included passing the recruiter screen, the hiring manager test, a ninety-minute case study with four team leads, and a peer chat. Each person they met along the way told them they were the frontrunner.
The VP of Operations called him. From his parked car, he stared at his phone and put forward two questions. The first concerned his college GPA. The next day, BebopDrifter8 received the rejection email.
The account, which appeared on the r/Jobs subreddit, has attracted 1,500 upvotes and 208 comments. Several readers remarked that they had endured comparable hiring procedures, yet very few anticipated that the closing encounter would involve a man inside a moving vehicle staring at his phone.
The Six-Week Process
The process began with the recruiter screen, which worked out well enough to proceed further. Next came the hiring manager interview, then the ninety-minute case study presentation given to four team leads. The peer chat was the final step before the promise of a quick conversation with the VP of Operations.
Last Friday, the recruiter called to confirm the final step, describing it as a mere cultural formality before an offer followed. The Redditor reported that every person they interviewed along the way had told them they were the frontrunner.
They did not believe it.
The Car Interview
The Vice President came to the Zoom meeting from his vehicle. Throughout the exchange, he kept glancing down at his phone. He posed two queries, with one of them asking about the Redditor’s college GPA.
The whole exchange lasted fifteen minutes. Afterward, the rejection email arrived.
A Redditor expressed regret over agreeing to the fifth interview when the company requested they keep going through another round. After weeks spent interviewing and finishing a case study, they felt the rejection came down to a single brief Zoom call with the VP.
Other Redditors Weigh In
A number of Redditors opened up about their own encounters with prolonged hiring processes, saying that such drawn-out procedures were not unusual. Some explained why companies conduct extensive interviews, noting that lengthy hiring periods can simply be a standard part of how certain firms run their recruitment.
A writer described a hiring experience involving five interviews spread across three days, lasting five to six weeks. Two of those interviews took place via Zoom over two days, while one occurred in person at the company’s location. After completing the on-site visit, they never received a response.
“After 2 weeks of waiting I finally emailed for a follow up. No answer to the email except a generic ‘we decided to go with another candidate’ automated email from HR (Not the person I followed up with),” they wrote. “These companies are so wrapped up in their own BS that they forget to treat candidates with dignity and respect.”
A different individual described a comparable situation. That person went through five rounds of interviews with a company before being informed the role was “no longer funded.”. During the fifth round, the interview took the form of a job simulation, which the candidate suspected was actually real work they had done for the company.
“The market is nutso right now,” they wrote.
Someone else believed the Redditor may have been better off not getting the job. “This doesn’t even sound like you’d want to work there if the VP treats people that way,” they commented. “You probably dodged a bullet in this whole thing.”
What Went Wrong
The VP’s behavior was the clearest problem. Sitting in a car and looking at a phone during a job interview is not professional. Asking about a candidate’s college GPA is not usual, but doing it from a moving vehicle while scrolling through a feed reads as dismissive.
The email rejecting the application was just as poor. A note from HR that reads “we decided to go with another candidate” is standard language. It amounts to the company having no further remarks to make.
The Daily Dot could not confirm the story told in the Reddit post on its own. Everything here comes from BebopDrifter8’s description of the hiring process and the views of those who responded to it.
Why the Story Sticks
The tale has drawn attention because it hits home for many people. Those who have endured lengthy hiring processes recognize the feeling of being told you are the frontrunner at every step, only to be rejected at the end.
The person posting on Reddit is truly upset. They put in six weeks of effort into the whole thing, and got nothing more than an email rejection from somebody too distracted by their phone to even pretend they cared.
| Step | Who Conducted It |
|---|---|
| Recruiter Screen | Recruiter |
| Hiring Manager Interview | Hiring Manager |
| Case Study Presentation | Four Team Leads |
| Peer Chat | Peers |
| Final Interview | VP of Operations |
| Interview | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Recruiter Screen | N/A |
| Hiring Manager Interview | N/A |
| Case Study Presentation | N/A |
| Peer Chat | N/A |
| Final Interview | Dismissive |
The Pattern Behind the Story
It is not unusual for organizations to extend their hiring processes considerably. Certain firms adopt this approach specifically to assess candidates with greater thoroughness.
The pattern goes like this:
- The candidate submits an application and waits for a response.
- The company schedules a recruiter screen, which filters out most applicants.
- The candidate moves through a series of interviews with different managers and teams.
- The candidate completes a final assessment, often a case study or a project.
- The candidate is told they are the frontrunner at every step.
- The final interview happens, often with the VP or CEO.
- The candidate is rejected.
Losing after doing everything correctly is the joke. The candidate has handled every step properly and still gets denied.
What Candidates Can Do
No method exists that can entirely shield a candidate from being turned down. What people can do instead is shape their own expectations and establish limits on what they will accept.
When a firm requests a fifth interview, it makes sense to inquire about its purpose. A vague response could point to a warning sign worth heeding. It would not come as a shock to learn that the final round includes a meeting with the VP of Operations.
It is important for applicants to keep in mind that being turned down does not say anything about their skills. The account from the user shows that certain firms operate without much care, and their hiring systems show it.
| Stage | What Happens | Who Is Involved |
|---|---|---|
| Application | Submission | Candidate |
| Recruiter Screen | Initial filter | Recruiter |
| First Interview | Evaluation | Hiring Manager |
| Second Interview | Further evaluation | Team Leads |
| Third Interview | Final assessment | Peers |
| Fourth Interview | Final check | VP of Operations |
| Rejection | Decision communicated | HR |
The Bottom Line
Anyone who has endured a lengthy hiring process can relate to the Redditor’s tale. Being told at each stage that you are the frontrunner, only to be rejected at the finish, is a familiar feeling.
The VP’s behavior was the clearest problem. Sitting in a car and looking at a phone during a job interview is not professional. Asking about a candidate’s college GPA is not usual, but doing it from a moving vehicle while scrolling through a feed reads as dismissive.
The response letter was just as poor. An email from HR that reads “we decided to go with another candidate” is standard wording. It is a means of stating the firm has no further comment to make.
A reminder that rejection is never personal, no matter how much it may feel that way, is what this story offers. It is a cautionary tale about corporate formality pushed to its most ridiculous limits, told from the perspective of the Redditor who lived through it.
BebopDrifter8’s description of the hiring process and the experiences and opinions shared by commenters forms the basis for this article. The Daily Dot was unable to independently confirm the events described in the Reddit post.
Source material: “Person Goes Through 5 Rounds of Job Interviews Before Getting Rejected by Executive in His Car: ‘Just a Cultural FORMALITY’,” The Daily Dot.
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