In a concerning account from the job-hunting world, a software engineer has alleged that the CEO of a Hong Kong-based startup made him complete nearly six hours of unpaid work, only to ghost him afterward. The incident was shared on Reddit’s r/recruitinghell, a forum known for exposing unprofessional hiring practices.
According to the post, the candidate had applied for a software engineering role, but the CEO unexpectedly showed interest in the applicant’s experience with unrelated design software. This led to a separate interview where the CEO asked for a demonstration of those specific skills.
What began as a standard process took a turn when the CEO allegedly sent production-level files and requested the applicant to edit them—even though the software wasn’t originally installed on the applicant’s system. After downloading a trial version, he spent nearly an hour setting up the software and later shared explanations and past work to show his understanding.
The situation worsened when the CEO scheduled a late-night meeting, pressuring the applicant to complete the task urgently. Repeated software crashes forced him to redo the work multiple times. The CEO eventually downloaded the final files, which the candidate found suspicious since companies typically use dummy files for interview assessments.
Afterward, the CEO cut off all communication, prompting the applicant to believe the entire interaction was an exploitative ploy to get free work. The post sparked outrage in the Reddit community, with users condemning the CEO’s actions and urging the candidate to leave anonymous reviews on platforms like Glassdoor.
One commenter noted, “That’s just wrong. I’m sure this founder has done this to others too.” Others expressed sympathy but advised not to generalize the entire startup ecosystem based on one bad experience.
