He applied to a company whose secure-email product he genuinely liked, and whose interface he thought badly needed work. He had almost no UX experience. He applied anyway, with a few general ideas about how he would fix it. HR rejected him quickly.
No problem.
Then someone from customer success emailed. The message was framed as an effort to improve the customer experience. What it asked for, in effect, was the detail behind the changes he had proposed — the specifics he had not been hired to provide.
He replied politely. He said he was flattered, that he was still available for the job, and that he would be glad to consult if they wanted his ideas. He never heard back.
What stayed with him was not the rejection. It was the discovery that a company can decide you are not worth hiring and still decide your thinking is worth having — and ask for it in the language of customer care.