Out-of-work employee gets rejected after 5 rounds of interviews through a phone call that lasted 12 minutes with the VP of operations, who was in his car: 'Why do companies make candidates jump through endless hoops?'

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Sep 20, 2026 10:30 AM EDT

Why go through all that for nothing?

What is it with companies and recruiters that love to do a hundred and one rounds of interviews, all to just hire a candidate internally? What is in it for them? They are losing a lot of time having to review resumes (if they even do that), then having to schedule interviews with each candidate, which can take a lot depending on how many rounds they do. All to just disreagard all that work they did at the last moment just to not hire anybody, or just fill the position initially as they were intending since the first moment. I'm not even going to start discussing the amount of time they are making candidates waste. But focusing just on the company. Why would they do that whole arduous process if they weren't going to hire any candidate? Or why would they take a candidate to 5 rounds of interviews before disregarding his application? Like, in this story, why didn't they just reject him in the first or second round? If everything was okay with him during the first four rounds, why do a fifth? What changed in that last round? Let me guess… absolutely nothing. 

My theory is that most companies want to make it look as if they were growing and hiring more people to work there, when in reality they aren't. They do this by doing a certain number of interviews a month, or every quarter, but end up not hiring anybody. This makes it look like growth while actually not doing anything, just wasting people's time. This may be too far-fetched, but there is something weird about all this. There is no reason to think that this is normal, because it's not. Why would you hire a candidate 5 times? Why would you make them work for free to prove their value? And after all that. Why would you not hire them? I feel for this person. He deserved the job, and having a VP reject you over a 10-minute phone call while he's in his car and not listening to you is awful and unforgettable. That person should not be in that high position if he's going to behave that way. 

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  • I just finished a six-week hiring process with a mid-sized tech firm. I passed the recruiter screen, did the hiring manager interview, presented a ninety-minute case study to four team leads, and did a peer chat. Every single person told me I was the frontrunner. The recruiter called me last Friday and said the final step was a quick fifteen-minute conversation with the VP of Operations. She literally told me it was just a
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  • An interviewer hiring a candidate. Models for explanatory purposes only.
    via Mina Rad

    An interviewer hiring a candidate.

    Models for explanatory purposes only. 

  • cultural FORMALITY and that an offer would follow right after. the VP joined the Zoom link six minutes late from the front seat of his car while wearing sunglasses. He didnt apologize. He was clearly looking down at his phone the entire time I spoke, giving me generic "uh-huh" responses. He asked me two random questions about my college GPA from eight years ago, cut the call off at the twelve-
    via BebopDrifter8
  • minute mark, and hung up. Twenty-four hours later, the recruiter sent a copy-pasted rejection email saying leadership decided to move in a different direction due to "lack of strategic alignment." I should of walked away when they asked for a fifth round. Why do companies make candidates jump through endless hoops if one guy in a parking lot can veto
    via BebopDrifter8
  • sixty days of work in five minutes?
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  • A candidate in an interview with a recruiter. Stock photo unrelated.
    via Mina Rad

    A candidate in an interview with a recruiter. 

    Stock photo unrelated. 

  • Turbulent-Prior-2253 The VP had already made the decision before they got on the call. The call itself was a box ticking exercise. You probably were a strong candidate in rounds 1-4, but the VP made their choice sometime between that and your call with them. They had to talk to you, but you never had a any real shot. I know it s ks, but reality is that when there is only one role available,
    via Turbulent-Prior-2253
  • someone has to get to the last round only to be rejected. Even if there are only two people left in contention, you have a 50% shot of being on the losing end of the deal.
    via Turbulent-Prior-2253
  • Citadel_Specter Five rounds is already a circus. An executive rejecting you from his car while checking his phone is peak corporate brain rot.
    via Citadel_Specter
  • Land-Southern The 90min pltch to teams was the exit que
    via Land-Southern
  • FckXFckMusk You did work for Free...... That was the scam...
    via FckXFckMusk
  • BunkHammer This doesn't even sound like you'd want to work there if the VP treats people that way. You probably dodged a bullet in this whole thing.
    via BunkHammer
  • Choice_Ad_1356 I had the same thing happen, I'm sorry I know it's infuriating. In the end my job posting was taken down and nobody was hired...
    via Choice_Ad_1356
  • Professional_Mud_535 They should have put you on benefits just for the interview process alone
    via Professional_Mud_535
  • HaveBlue84 Your story reminded me of something that happened to me about 6 months ago. I had a series of interviews with a company that I was a little on the fence about but at the time I was in the worst job of my life. First round was with who would be my supervision and it went well. Second round was with the CFO who was full time remote (the rest of the office was local). He was late, took another call
    via HaveBlue84
  • during the interview, didn't really ask any questions except "Do you understand what this role is?" and I did. Call lasted less than 10 minutes, which I was told was normal for that person. Then the recruiter said they wanted to have a 3rd around interview with 2 other people. So I went, and I did not enjoy the interview. Questions were odd and overly specific. I was still willing to take the job because of the position I was in was truly awful and I
    via HaveBlue84
  • liked the guy that would be my boss. They dragged their feet for 2 more weeks and I told the recruiter I was feeling uneasy about it and he assured me they just had some vacation overlap and hadn't come to a conclusion. Then he called me a few days later and said that the person that would be my boss quit but they were still discussing me. I told him I was out. This was for a midlevel accounting role.
    via HaveBlue84

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