I was contacted by a recruiter via LinkedIn, and was scheduled for a preliminary phone interview. The phone interview went very well. The woman I spoke with was very kind and described the position well. I was then scheduled for an in person interview with the hiring manager. It took about one hour. He was very nice, and I left with a positive feeling. I was then brought back for a second interview with the same hiring manager, and had been instructed ahead of time to prepare a PowerPoint presentation to "sell myself". That interview went well, and again I left with a positive feeling about my chances of being hired. Imagine my surprise, 4 days later, when I received a generic email stating that they are going to continue seeking other candidates. The email was from a woman I'd never spoken to, and referenced a conversation that never took place. I checked to see if she may be the assistant to the HR person I had initially interviewed with, and she was not. I am completely baffled. The canned email I received bore the tone of rejecting a person early in the process (as if they hadn't passed the phone interview). Rejection is rejection, yes. Apparently having B2B sales experience, presenting yourself professionally, and having stellar references don't matter. All they earn you is a generic rejection email from a person you've never had contact with.

I applied online, and about a week later I got a call from a recruiter to schedule a phone screening. The screening went well, and the recruiter told me I was a great candidate for the position and that she would forward my information to the sales manager. A week went by and I hadn't heard anything from the manager. The recruiter called me to let me know that the manager would be going on vacation and, he would set up an interview once he was back in town. Another two weeks go by without any contact from the recruiter or manager. Then I received a generic email stating they were moving forward with other candidates. The whole process was a complete waste of my time.