Ghosted after a superday - what should I do?
I cold emailed an MD from a MM at the beginning of January at which time I was told they were launching an off-cycle analyst recruitment process and wanted me to be included. The process was four rounds total spanning across two months, starting with an initial 30 minute phone screen with an associate, then a technical interview with two associates. For the third round, I was asked to put together a case study that involved creating a full 3FSM with a valuation (DCF, precedents, comps), valuation summary presentation, and teaser presentation as if we were positioning the company for a sell-side process. The full case study took me ~30 hours total from Friday - Sunday, where my model incorporated all the bells and whistles. The next round was a superday with 2 associates and 2 MDs. The associates asked a few technicals and questions from the case study, and also told me my submission was near perfect and that I was a great candidate for the role. The MDs asked only behavioral questions, and one noted he liked that I came in very prepared.
Ultimately, I probably spent over 50 hours prepping for interviews, interviewing, and working on the case study for this role across 4 total rounds spanning across 2 months. I was told I would hear back by the end of this week. It’s now 3:30 p.m. on Friday, and I haven’t heard a peep after following up with my point of contact (one of the associates) two times this week. In my head I’m thinking I’m getting ghosted, but after putting in the amount of time and effort into this process that I did I would be very surprised. It’s a shitty feeling, not sure what to do as this was pretty much my last opportunity to land a solid off cycle role.
What should I do in this situation? Am I delusional to think there’s no way they would ghost me after the feedback they gave? Should I follow up again? Any advice would be much appreciated.
Unfortunately either dinged or on the back burner in case someone else doesn't accept. Most of these firms do not send rejections and an extended ghosting = rejection. I would mentally categorize it as that, keep recruiting, and if they decide to call you next week that's awesome but don't sit around for it.
Personally I would never do a massive case study unpaid, and have turned down interesting processes for asking for this. 3 hour exercise, fine, but an entire weekend with full materials is unreasonable, not industry standard whatsoever, and generally a massive red flag about how they'd value your time once you work there. They can test your ability in a 1-3 hour test. I get prospects want to break in at any cost, but something to keep in mind if you encounter it again.
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