I was initially contacted by their VP of Growth Ops; I hadn't applied. After looking into the company, I saw they were doing well in a strong market, especially following their merger with Athelas and their backing by General Catalyst, so I decided to take the call. We had a great conversation, got along well, and he fast-tracked me into their hiring process. I was given a prompt engineering take-home assignment, which was to be followed by a panel interview. The assignment itself was fairly straightforward, although it struck me as a bit odd that the main assessment for a CSM role was focused on prompt engineering. Thankfully, I enjoy that type of work, so I completed it and assumed the next step would be the mentioned in-person panel the following week. After submitting, I didn’t hear back. Since I was already in final stages with another opportunity, I followed up to check in. They eventually responded, saying they were expecting a stronger take-home submission. Because I value learning from feedback, I asked if they could share any specific insight into what was lacking or where I could improve. I didn’t receive a response. I also followed up with the VP of Growth directly, in the same tone he used when he originally invited me into the process. I was genuinely surprised by the decision and just wanted clarity. Again, no reply. The entire process felt needlessly opaque and overly transactional. If someone reaches out to you cold, the least they can do is offer professional courtesy and constructive feedback, especially after you’ve invested time and energy in a process you didn’t seek out.