An insurance company reached out to them — they had not applied. What followed was seven rounds across six weeks: a screening, the hiring manager, the hiring manager’s manager, a team panel, a case study, a board deck, and an HR final.
They passed all of them. Top marks on the take-home. A clean background check. “The team really liked you,” HR said. Then came the offer, in writing, with the start date locked.
They did all the things they were supposed to. Stopped interviewing elsewhere. Turned down two other active processes. Started looking at apartments in that city. The night before the first day, they set three alarms; their calendar read “First day!!!”
At eight the next morning — one hour before they were due to log on — HR called. “I’m so sorry, but the CEO personally reviewed your résumé and decided you don’t have enough years of experience, so we’re rescinding the offer.”
The CEO. The same CEO who had sat in none of the seven interviews, and who had not looked at the résumé once in six weeks — while a full team, an HR function, and a month and a half of the candidate’s life went into the process. He read it in the final hour and said no.
They were left with a revoked offer, two interviews they had declined, and a gap that had just grown two months longer.