Reddit User Claims He Was Rejected 5 Minutes After Job Interview: "Pretty Brutal"

Reddit has become a popular platform for employees to share their job struggles, office experiences, and workplace concerns. Various subreddits have emerged as communities where employees can anonymously share their stories, seek advice, and connect with others who face similar challenges. Recently, a 24-year-old Reddit user shared his disheartening experience of being rejected by a company just five minutes after his job interview ended. The young professional, a former content writer, had taken a break to care for his injured mother and was seeking a temporary role. Despite a seemingly successful interview, he received a rejection email astonishingly quickly.

He posted about his experience on Reddit, asking fellow users if they had faced similar "brutal" rejections.

''I go in for the interview, it lasts about 20 minutes and as far as I'm aware everything is going rather smoothly. We share some laughs together and seem to be on the same page about basically everything. I also let them know about my situation and why I'd not been working this year.

I leave the store get back to the car and check my email and incredibly in the space of that short walk I'd been rejected for the role. I was honestly staggered at how quickly I'd been rejected. I didn't mind being rejected at all of course but the speed of it was insane. Sorry but just needed a place to talk about this as mentally this was pretty brutal as I've never experienced this and I'm unaware if this is common. Is this something you guys have experienced too?'' his post read. 

See the post here:

Rejected 5 minutes after an interview.
byu/Dull-Caterpillar3153 injobs

While many expressed sympathy, others offered theories to explain the swift decision. Theories offered by users included automated rejection emails, prior candidate selection, internal hiring processes and rapid recruitment timelines.

One user wrote, ''Never mention family situations in an interview. It's not their business and they could (potentially) use it as an excuse to not hire you.''

Another commented, ''It was likely an auto email. For some reason, they checked the no box for you and that auto sends you an email.''

A third said, ''Sometimes they've already picked someone internally or they're hiring the boss's nephew but they are legally required to interview other people for it. If the interview seemed like it was going really well and there were no obvious conflicts, that would be my guess. I hate that sort of thing because it's such a waste of your time.''

A fourth added, ''I wouldn't let this bother you, because they probably had an internal candidate or someone applying with more experience. Rarely, are job rejections about you as a person.''