This was my second time interviewing with DotDigital, and once again, it ended with a frustrating sense of déjà vu. I went through a 3-stage interview process, each round more in-depth than the last, with architecture-level questions that required serious time, effort, and technical depth. We’re talking about detailed system design, scalability challenges, cloud-native strategies—the kind of stuff people get paid to deliver. After all that, I was told—again—that they went with an internal candidate who “understood the business better.” That’s fine on paper, but if the outcome was already leaning that way, why waste external candidates’ time and energy? It honestly felt like I was being used to stress-test their interview process or even harvest ideas, rather than being genuinely considered for the role. This is what external candidates should know: • You may end up doing unpaid consulting disguised as interviews • There’s no transparency about internal candidates already in play • It’s the second time this happened, and it really feels like external applicants are filler, just to make the process look fair If you’re thinking of applying, ask straight up whether an internal candidate is already being lined up. If the answer’s vague, walk away—you’ll save yourself the time, effort, and the feeling of being strung along for show. If you’re not already in the building, you’re just there to decorate the interview process.