Oh man, I felt this post in my soul. Four rounds plus a 10-hour task is already pushing it — getting ghosted after all that is genuinely demoralizing, and I'm sorry you went through it.
Here's what actually shifted things for me: I started treating lengthy processes like client projects. Before round three or four, I'd send a quick email saying something like "I'm excited to continue — can you give me a rough sense of your decision timeline so I can plan accordingly?" It sounds small, but it does two things. First, it signals you're organized and treat your time seriously. Second, if they ghost you after that, you have a paper trail showing you proactively communicated. Recruiters who are serious almost always respond to that message.
For the task specifically, I now cap my unpaid work at two hours max. Anything beyond that, I scope it like a freelance proposal and mention it casually — "I can do a full version if we move forward, but here's a focused sample." Companies that respect candidates accept that. The ones who don't? Honestly, good riddance.
- Set timeline expectations early in the process
- Cap unpaid task work at two hours
- Follow up once, then move on mentally
Quick question for you — did the recruiter or the hiring manager ghost you? In my experience the fix is pretty different depending on which one goes silent.
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