# Six hours of free work, then silence: a Hong Kong startup CEO ran a production sprint disguised as an interview

**[TRUE STORY]** — by Software engineer · via r/recruitinghell (cross-posted from r/HongKong)

A software engineer applied to a Hong Kong startup. The CEO conducted the interviews personally — starting 10 minutes late from a noisy restaurant. After noticing the candidate had experience with a specific design tool, he pivoted the process into multiple "skill assessment" sessions using actual production files, not dummy data. The candidate spent six hours across several late-night sessions, including an hour just setting up a trial version of software he didn't own. The moment the CEO downloaded the completed files, communication stopped. No rejection. No follow-up. Just silence. Reddit's r/recruitinghell called it what it was: unpaid consulting billed as hiring.

*Source: [r/recruitinghell · via DNA India](https://www.dnaindia.com/viral/report-hong-kong-job-applicant-jobseeker-startup-ceo-founder-made-him-work-6-hours-for-free-and-then-ghosted-him-internet-reacts-viral-post-on-reddit-tech-industry-ghosting-recruitment-toxic-exploitation-3147708)*
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