I was contacted by Penguin's HR after sending them my C.V. for a copywriter position. They asked me to perform a written assignment - choosing two books from their back catalog and producing an SEO summary of both books, with a list of keywords use and an explanation of why I'd chosen these two particular titles.
I sent the assignment back to HR and received a prompt response that they would be in touch soon to advise on next steps. From thereon, however, I never heard anything back from them. Contacted HR twice to ask if there was any feedback. Both emails were ignored. Given the assignment took a considerable amount of time (2 days) and meant sacrificing other work I could have been getting on with, I thought this was bad mannered and demonstrated a lack of integrity.
Obviously, no reasonable candidate expects to receive personally tailored feedback to every piece of work they submit, though a simple "Sorry, this position has already been filled. We do not have any feedback at the time" takes all of 5 seconds to type out and send off.
Summary: In my experience, this inability to communicate at the first hurdle is usually an indicator of something dysfunctional in the wider culture. This may not always be the case, but I've often found a strong correlation between the two. I would not therefore apply to any other jobs with this company in the future.