Company made him complete 250 questions and 20 essays before the first phone call — he sent the CEO an invoice and an ultimatum

Job seekers would agree that one of the most tiring things about the process is the lengthy job interviews. David, who goes by u/tasunfeu on Reddit, shared a screenshot of his email to a company that made him go through one of the "lengthiest job application processes" he's ever seen. The company did all this even before getting on a phone call with him to tell him he was not selected. David was not going to let the company waste his time, so he sent them an invoice, demanding to be paid, and pulled a power move by CC-ing the CEO. In just two days since June 28, the post received 11,000 upvotes and 600 comments.

One of the lengthiest interviews

David began the letter on a sarcastic note, congratulating the two employees who worked for the company. He pointed out that this was one of the lengthiest interviews he had given throughout his career. It included 250 personality and organizational questions, 20 long-form, multi-part questions with a strategy that was specific to the company. They wanted to know his entire sales and employment history, starting right from high school. He added, "All before even an introductory phone call screening or a courtesy call or email to communicate I was not selected."

Sent an invoice to the company's CEO

David continued to take a dig at the two employees whose names he censored, but later revealed in the comments. To end his email, he mentioned that he had no stake in the company or Laurence's coaching business, which is why he prepared an invoice. He wrote, "I've prepared an invoice at my standard rate for the time spent helping Laurence and [redacted] reach their goals. Please let me know how you'll compensate for services rendered."

Candidates are put off by lengthy hiring processes

David was one of the many who were put off by the length of the interviewing process. SHRM research revealed that 57% of candidates lose interest in a position they applied for if the hiring process feels too long. 62% lose interest if they do not hear back from the employer within two weeks. Checkr also conducted a survey in 2025 and revealed that 67% of the respondents thought companies were not being transparent with their hiring intentions, and 49% reported they would not be applying to the same company if communication was not good enough the first time. Safe to say, David, most likely would not apply to the company again after this experience.

'Their CFO literally has Stanford in his LinkedIn title, except he didn’t go there...'

Netizens were desperate in the comment section for an update on how the situation unfolded. The majority of the people were on David's side and begged him to drop the name of the company. u/CherryyyyyJessica81 wrote, "Totally agree, companies need to stop treating candidates like free labor." u/Smoovupinya pointed out, "Their CFO literally has Stanford in his LinkedIn title, except he didn’t go there, he got a certification there. That’s always the big tell. 'Harvard' $35 certification they did over the weekend. Oh, okay? Tells you all you need to know."

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