Company accidentally CC'd her on internal email after her job interview — one recruiter's response made her wish she'd never opened it

Many people have experienced the exhausting challenges of the modern job search, but only a few have witnessed the harsh realities, just like a candidate who goes by u/MainStock8156 on Reddit. After a grueling two-hour final interview for a project management position, she believed she would finally get the job. However, she was left devastated when the hiring manager accidentally included her in an email meant for internal communication. This unfortunate leak shook her self-confidence and also exposed a dark reality of the recruitment process. Following this experience, she took to Reddit on June 19, 2026, to share her feelings, which resonated with many. The woman's post received over 1,500 upvotes online. 

Raw, unedited feedback

The woman went through a two-hour-long interview with four different people and seemed quite satisfied with the entire process. A day later, she woke up to an email from the hiring manager and opened it, assuming it was a follow-up or an offer. However, as soon as the woman read the header, she knew it wasn't meant for her. Still, she read it, only to be devastated by the content. The thread contained all three interviewers' raw, unedited thoughts about the candidates they interviewed. After the hiring manager asked for their thoughts, the first interviewer, despite liking the author, revealed that Sarah, one of the other interviewers on the panel, thought that the woman talked a bit too much. Not just that, they also noted that the woman seemed nervous, which made them doubt her ability to handle pressure. 

Reading between paychecks

Following this, the third interviewer, Dave, also joined in and said, "Honestly, I thought she was great, but I'm still leaning toward the internal candidate." He then pointed out that the woman had a minimal salary, which meant only one of the two things. Either she was underpaid, or there was a serious reason behind it, which suggested it could be used as their leverage. Amid this discussion, Sarah had had enough, and she asked the panel to pick anyone, given that they had conducted four interviews that day. 

Realization kicks in

Nonetheless, as the discussion went on, the hiring manager soon realized they had messed up. So, they sent the candidate a formal "Thank you for your time; we'll be in touch" email. Obviously, having seen behind the curtain, the candidate was stunned, as they had given almost the last two weeks of their precious time for this interview. She researched the project, bought a new blazer, and even took half a day off for this interview — all this for the recruiters to randomly select a candidate.

Interview fatigue 

Sarah, one of the interviewers, openly admitted that she was mentally exhausted after conducting multiple interviews in a single day. This occurs when recruiters and hiring managers are faced with too many interviews, over several rounds, forcing them to draw wrong conclusions. This can be solved simply by reducing the number of rounds in an interview or the number of candidates. In fact, about 67% of companies lose out on good candidates just because their competition moves faster, according to a survey by Metaview (Alignment Report). Similarly, Totaljobs found that more than half (72%) of recruiters feel screening many irrelevant applications slows down the hiring process significantly. Now, while interview fatigue is real, putting the frustration on candidates isn't fair. 

'Kiss this job goodbye'

Nonetheless, people feel that instead of ignoring the email, the woman should've let the interviewers know they had messed up. u/PodcastJunkie8706 noted, "You should reply back, 'Thank you for the information regarding my current salary. I will keep that in mind during subsequent interviews.'" At the same time, u/KetoLurkerHereAgain suggested, "You can kiss this job goodbye. They're already on the fence, and they won't want to face you after this."

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