I applied for an internship with Davis Construction and was contacted by a recruiter within an hour to schedule a phone call, which initially gave me a very positive impression of the process. During that first conversation, the recruiter was extremely enthusiastic about my background and resume, even mentioning that they had never seen an intern candidate with this level of experience and that the team would “love” me. Based on that interaction, I felt confident and excited about moving forward.
After that call, communication slowed significantly, and I was eventually ghosted for about a month before being contacted again to schedule what was described as a final interview with two team members. The interview itself went very well. The team was engaged, impressed by my experience, and excited about what I could contribute. We had strong technical discussions, talked through tools and software I already knew, and they expressed interest in teaching me additional systems. The conversation felt collaborative and genuine, and I left with a very positive impression of the team and role.
Unfortunately, after the interview, I experienced another long period of no communication. Roughly a month later, I received a brief email stating that the position had been filled by an internal referral.
While I understand hiring internal referrals, the lack of consistent communication throughout the process was disappointing, especially given the level of enthusiasm expressed early on and the time invested across multiple interview stages. The team itself seemed great, but the recruiting process could be significantly improved by providing timely updates and clearer expectations to candidates.