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Job seeker gets rejected after four rounds of interviews despite CEO's praise: 'You are a runner-up'

05/02/2026 05:37:00

Long hiring processes often test our patience, but one Reddit user recently opened up about going through four rounds of interviews, only to end up with a rejection email.

The Reddit user shared the post with a warning: “No matter what they say in an interview, you don’t have the job until you get the offer.

According to the post, the company had been looking for someone with exactly the same experience as the candidate, as it was switching to a new system.

After each round, the way the company communicated made the candidate feel as if the role was already secured.

Candidate praised, still rejected:

The final interview was with the company's CEO, who claimed that no candidate had ever made it past the first round.

“Basically, the last interview was just the CEO talking about the position and what I would be doing. They even responded to my thank you email with high praise,” the post adds.

Quite confident about securing the role, the candidate even sent a thank-you email and received a response full of praise.

However, a rejection email arrived soon after. The recruiter explained that the company had selected another individual with slightly more experience, adding that the candidate had interviewed very well and was the runner-up for the role.

“He said I interviewed well and I was the runner-up,” the post adds.

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Check out the post here:

Screengrab of the Reddit post.

Here's how people reacted to the post:

The post drew strong reactions from Reddit users, with many expressing sympathy for the candidate. Several users felt that the runner-up tag was unnecessary.

One of the users commented, “I just saw a video of a girl who moved across the country just to then be laid off after three weeks.

A second user commented, "I showed up for my first day of work and was told that there was a mix-up.”

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“Facts, until it’s day one and you’re actually logged in, it’s all just noise, learned that the hard way they love selling the dream right up until they don’t,” another user commented.

(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)

by Hindustan Times