# The Recruiter Sent a Rejection. The Hiring Manager Scheduled the Interview.

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

They wanted a senior director role, so they went around the front door. An email straight to the hiring manager — the VP — laying out what they could do for the company, plus the standard application through the portal.

Eight hours later, near midnight, the VP replied personally and asked for their availability. By morning there was an interview on the calendar for Friday.

Then, at the end of Thursday, recruiting sent the canned note: thank you for your interest, we have decided to move forward with other candidates. The candidate froze. If they asked the VP, he might feel obliged to fall in line with recruiting. So they said nothing, kept the invitation, and showed up anyway.

The VP arrived twenty minutes late. They talked for twenty minutes before he had to take another call — then scheduled a second conversation. Two parts of the same company, working from two different verdicts, on the same week.

*Source: [r/recruitinghell · viral post + update](https://www.reddit.com/r/recruitinghell/comments/1x148sl/recruiter_rejected_me_hiring_manager_sent_me_an/)*
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