I interviewed for a Senior Producer role over the course of two months. The process started positively, the recruiter was friendly and the interviews with leadership and directors went very well. Additionally, I took an assessment as well catered to my skill sets and experience. I was happy to do it but with my interview experience, this lengthy take home exercise essentially was giving PlayQ a blueprint on successful ways to run production for a live service mobile game. I was told my feedback was strong and that the team felt my experience was a strong fit. However, the process quickly became disorganized. My scheduled panel was canceled the same week it was supposed to happen, with only vague communication about why. Eventually, I learned the hiring manager had left after only being at the company for about a month. The recruiter had to reshuffle and rebuild the panel, and although I initially withdrew due to the instability, I was reassured it was “just the manager leaving” and that everything else was fine, so I decided to stay in process. After my panel, I was told to expect updates within a week, but that timeline repeatedly came and went with no communication. I had to keep following up just to get basic status updates, and each time the responses were vague or delayed, repeating the same message about needing to figure out a manager while reassuring me that my candidacy was still being considered based on positive feedback and strong experience. Nearly three weeks after the final interview, I was contacted by the recruiter for a call, only to be told the role was being canceled because they needed to hire a new manager before bringing in a Senior Producer. This was deeply frustrating and felt like a waste of time, especially given how much effort went into rescheduling the panel and keeping me warm. The recruiter’s delivery of this news also lacked empathy and accountability to navigate a situation like this professionally. After maintaining consistent communication since August, I was left feeling misled, disrespected, and disappointed by how carelessly this was handled. It’s disheartening that a company presenting itself as people-first and collaborative would treat candidates this way. The leadership team (which was almost all of them) I met with seemed great in the interviews which made the mishandling of my candidacy even more disappointing. In the end, it showed a lack of organization, communication, and respect for candidates’ time and effort.