I went through 4 rounds of interviews (with 5 people) after applying for the Internal Communications Manager role. I had many thoughtful and engaging conversations throughout the process and loved speaking with members of the marketing and communications teams.
Unfortunately, the HR communications were far from thoughtful. After completing my 4th interview, I was told there could potentially be one more interview. I received an email from HR a few days later thanking me for my patience and saying they were still evaluating candidates. One week passed, and I received an opportunity from a different company. I reached out to the HR contact and explained that another opportunity had presented itself, but I was still very interested in the job at Relay Resources. I asked if they could please let me know where they were at in their process and if I was still a candidate for the opening. I never received a response.
Any other time this lack of response would be unprofessional and disappointing. We are in the middle of a pandemic. So many people are unemployed and trying to make ends meet. The lack of response and willingness to string me along while knowing I was trying to make an important decision was simply mean-spirited.
One more week later - now almost 3 weeks after my last interview - I received a generic form email from HR saying that they had a chance to review my application and decided to pursue other candidates who match their requirements more closely. The email was clearly the same one that they use for applicants that don’t make it to the first round of interviews. After 4 interviews and many hours of my time, this generic response was truly disappointing and insulting.
I now see that a person in 2018 had a similar experience. It’s ironic that Relay Resources’ response at that time was to say that they would hire an Internal Communications Manager. Clearly these issues run deep and have not been addressed. I hope they do better in the future.