I was asked to complete a brief for an in-person interview. The brief had three tasks:
1. Conduct your own evaluation of a game they asked me to play test
2. Present my approach to conducting research for this game
3. Present my overall research strategy for testing a game throughout it's lifecycle
The brief was written in poorly translated English (I am a fluent English and French speaker.) The brief also said to "not be exhaustive" (despite any user researcher who would know that those three tasks together are certainly exhaustive - it's a lot of work just for an interview.) I had to ask three times to clarify the format of the interview, the tasks asked of me and how long I would have to present. The responses I got were vague, and unhelpful. I assumed the interview would only last an hour.
On the day, the interview lasted two hours. They told me they wouldn't be hiring any time soon but that I could email them with any questions. I followed up a few days later with an email to check-in. I got no response from the recruiter. Four emails later over 1-2 months, still no reply. I even left her a voicemail. Eventually, I reached out to the senior UXR who was in the interview with me. After seven days, he responded vaguely saying they still weren't ready to hire.
I was given outstanding feedback during my interview, and it was clear I had put a lot of effort in and was very qualified for the role. After radio silence for two months, they have just rejected me for the role. They didn't do me the courtesy of calling, or discussing with me in more details my ambitions for the role - which seems to have contributed to their decision not to hire me.
I am annoyed that I was ghosted for months on end, after being given reason to suggest during the interview itself that I was the perfect candidate for the role.
Poor recruitment. Poor organisation. Poor experience.