The job search journey can often feel like an emotional rollercoaster, filled with endless applications, demanding technical tests, and impersonal rejection emails that arrive all too quickly. This lack of human connection in the hiring process has left many job seekers feeling frustrated and undervalued.
Recently, a poignant story surfaced on Reddit, perfectly illustrating the emotional toll of this process. A tech worker, sharing under the username @Background_Ad_19, detailed how they received a rejection email merely eight minutes after submitting a comprehensive technical assessment, despite having successfully completed most sections. Their post lamented, “Rejection mail in just 8 minutes just because I failed to answer 1 question, the rest all cleared.”
This particular techie was seeking a change after experiencing a toxic work environment in their current role, despite having been with the company for only four months. They applied to a UK-based startup and were presented with a demanding 2-hour and 15-minute technical test.
The assessment included multiple-choice questions, all of which the techie answered correctly. This was followed by SQL and coding sections, where they successfully passed all test cases. The only stumbling block was the Node.js section, which proved challenging with two failed attempts. As there was no option to proceed without submission, they moved on to the React section.
With only 45 minutes left, the React section was completed within 30 minutes, again passing all test cases. Confidently submitting the entire assessment, the techie received a swift rejection email just eight minutes later.
Visibly devastated, the techie shared their feelings: “I felt devastated. I spent over 2 hours giving my best, and just because of one failed Node.js assessment and time, I got rejected.” They further expressed that the experience was heartbreaking and led to tears.
The Reddit community responded with an outpouring of sympathy, with many users relating to the techie’s experience. One commenter noted, “It’s the market, bro. Companies are having the upper hand currently. They want the best of candidates with lowballing offers.” Another suggested, “Stop giving interviews to bots. Collectively ignore bot-based tests. Make the recruiters work.” A third user offered a slightly different perspective, stating, “Sad…but it is still much better than being ghosted.”