A very disappointing HR experience.
I had multiple UK and US video interviews. For one of the interviews, I was given a task to analyse some marketing data and present back findings in a short presentation.
Everything was good. I got to the final stages of interviews when covid started to really hit the UK. That's when things went downhill. Radio silence. The Firewood recruiter was a contractor, so I suspect was let go. My recruiter tried to chase Firewood to find out whether I was still in the process/the role still existed. Almost a month went past until my recruiter was told that hiring was now frozen.
Covid happens, I'm not bothered about that part. Fast-forward 6 months and I see the role advertised again on LinkedIn. I try to contact the Firewood recruiter from before, but the inbox is no longer active. My recruiter who previously put me forward for the role tried to contact them, but got no response. So I apply online and mention in my covering letter that I was in the process before covid. I then received a generic rejection email, with no acknowledgement of me having been in the process previously.
I'm not bothered about the rejection - they might have someone that's perfect for the role - but it does bother me that despite all the time and effort I gave for the interviews and task previously, that as soon as they didn't 'need' me anymore, I've essentially been ghosted.
I have to ask myself what that says about Firewood as a company and their culture.