Got contacted by a hiring manager at MSFT on LinkedIn and agreed that I would be a great fit for a role. Went through a case study and several rounds of interviews, all the way to an ASAP interview. Got positive feedback every step of the way, and then they just ghosted me. After several days and my 4th follow up email, I get a 10 second call from the recruiter telling me "They went with another candidate" and no other feedback whatsoever, on where I was lacking. I have no idea what went wrong, although I assume I must have raised some red flag with the ASAP. Since then I have applied for other similar roles, and a friend very strongly recommended me to their manager. I got a call from another MSFT recruiter, but no serious follow up. Several people told me that MSFT must have blacklisted me: I can apply for any similar role there for the next year. How can I figure out if I was indeed blacklisted, and is there anyway I could breakthrough it?
You don't have any visa restrictions, do you?
You weren't blacklisted. The fact that you made it to the interview stage tells you that. The fact that you made it to an as appropriate interview is a good thing as well. Several other candidates likely did as well, usually hiring managers will want several candidates to go through full loops before they decide. One of the others were chosen - it doesnt mean anything more than that. Did you ask the recruiter for feedback?
Yes. "Sorry can't give you anything. MSFT policy".
"They went with another candidate" was the line the recruiter gave me, but now I'm seeing the position is open again on LinkedIn and that confirmed by a friend at MSFT who can see the opening in their internal system. Now I'm really concerned that I did indeed raise some red flag of sorts....
Sorry bro I know it sucks not get a job when you get so close :(, you’ll get it another time :)
Likely doing a reorg internally. They like doing that.
You’re not blacklisted. Either the opening disappeared due to a reorg, as someone else pointed out, or they hired someone internal. 90% of all openings are filled by internal shuffling.
"They went with another candidate" was the line the recruiter gave me, but now I'm seeing the position is open again on LinkedIn and that confirmed by a friend at MSFT who can see the opening in their internal system. Now I'm really concerned that I did indeed raise some red flag of sorts....
I would think they would not bring you on onsite if blacklisted? And for what reason would they do that? It’s way more likely you didn’t perform As well as you thought or someone else was a better fit.
Then the positive feedback was just BS?
They gave you positive feedback in the moment? They are trained to be polite and kind. It’s a black box honestly who knows. I just said what was likely. What could you have done to get blacklisted?