Was contacted by recruiter based on an online profile I had posted, and someone else in the same organization who helped connect me to the hiring manager. The process with the recruiter was very professional if somewhat slow. After about 4 weeks I had a phone interview with the hiring manager. The conversation went well, but no real feedback from the hiring manager at the time. About 3 weeks later I was asked to come in for a presentation. I was given some data and asked to present for an hour on the topic. This is where my poor experience started.
I had spent a large amount of time preparing and researching my topic, so I was ready when I went in to the building. Due to some logistics issue I was waiting in the lobby for 20 minutes past my start time (no one thought to check the lobby for me - despite a call to the person meant to meet me). My audience was not really engaged at the start of the presentation, and I had very little interaction during the meeting (despite having extensive presentation experience - I know how to engage an audience). One of the panel spent about 30% of the time in the room checking his phone for messages, and one of the panel neglected to even show up. After I was given my allotted time, I was invited back to the hiring manager's office to discuss the role further. I had very positive vibes by now and was sure I had made it to the finalist group.
I did the usual with thank you emails to all panel interviewers, and follow up phone calls. I didn't pester anyone excessively either.
After 4 emails with no reply back from the hiring manager I finally got a canned reply from the recruiter telling me they moved forward with an internal candidate. You can imagine my frustration after such a long process, such a large amount of time dedicated to putting my best foot forward and not even have the common decency to reply to me. One of the core tenets they preach in the company doctrine talks about respecting their associates. Might I suggest they look into extending that to their prospective candidates too?
I attempted to get feedback subsequently, but of course never heard a word. Thankfully I copywrited my work so it couldn't be used internally.
I understand that things come up at work that dictate changes to the plan, but at least have the courtesy to reply to your presenter who took the time to prepare and research.
I also understand that if I wasn't the right fit then that's fine, just have the guts to say "thanks for taking the time to present to us, unfortunately we moved ahead with xxx because of yyy" Silence just shows unprofessionalism and a lack of respect for the candidate.