# Five Seconds to Think. The Rejection Cited the Flow of Conversation.

**[TRUE STORY]** — by Candidate · via X · r/recruitinghell

He posted the rejection email himself. The subject line was an update on his interview process. The role was software development engineer. The company, unnamed, wrote that it had noticed a consistent pause of about five seconds after each question, and that while taking a moment to think is natural, the pauses “impacted the overall flow of the conversation” and made it difficult to assess how he communicated and solved problems.

His account is that he was rejected for taking five seconds to think. The email has not been independently verified. The company has not been named.

*Source: [r/recruitinghell · link post · via X](https://www.reddit.com/r/recruitinghell/comments/1xkpswp/he_was_rejected_for_a_software_job_because_he/)*
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