Woman completes 4 rounds of interviews before learning company already chose internal hire, realizes she was only there to “validate” the promotion: ‘I was never a real candidate. I was a prop in their internal politics.’ – FAIL Blog

Then came the standard rejection email. Disappointing, sure, but nothing unusual, until fate decided to make the situation exponentially worse through the most awkward coffee shop interaction imaginable.

One of the interviewers admitted the truth: the company had already decided to promote someone internally before external interviews even started. The outside candidates were apparently just there so HR could “validate” the promotion process and claim they had explored outside talent.

In other words, this woman wasn’t a candidate. She was paperwork.

And that’s the part that feels so deeply insulting. Companies love talking about respecting applicants’ time right before asking them to complete seven assessments, three personality quizzes, and a recorded video interview where they answer questions alone in their bedroom like they’re being held hostage by LinkedIn. The least they can do is conduct interviews for jobs that actually exist.

Because job interviews don’t just take time, they take energy. People prepare for them after work, during lunch breaks, late at night, while already stressed about bills or career moves or burnout. Some candidates turn down other opportunities because they think one process is going well. To knowingly waste that effort just to satisfy an HR technicality is incredibly cynical.