A software engineer applied to a mid-size SaaS company in early 2025. The role seemed promising. What followed was a seven-month recruitment marathon no one should run.
The company put them through seven interview rounds — technical screens, system design, cultural fit, a VP chat — spread across several months. Each round generated positive feedback. Then, silence. For a full month, no email, no update, no acknowledgement they existed.
When the recruiter finally resurfaced, it was not with an offer or a rejection. It was a request for an eighth round. A new hiring manager had joined, the recruiter explained, and wanted to make their own assessment. The candidate, now too deep to walk away, agreed.
They completed the eighth round. The new hiring manager seemed engaged. And then — nothing. No rejection. No offer. No response to follow-up emails. The role had been open for over eight months. The candidate later wrote on Reddit that the experience left them feeling "really sad" and questioning what level of basic courtesy a candidate is owed.
The subreddit's response was unanimous: excessive rounds are not diligence. They are dysfunction wearing a hiring manager's lanyard.