I applied for Adyen’s Operational Support Specialist role on February 28. Their automated email proudly promises a reply within five business days, but no one reached out until March 10. My recruiter, scheduled my screening for March 25 — nearly a month after applying. On the day of the call, she emailed to say she was out sick and pushed it a full week to March 31. That pattern of delay defined the entire process. When we finally spoke, the conversation went smoothly. We discussed compensation (the range was $25–$50/hr, and she said I’d be considered in the $40–$50/hr range). I was told I’d advance to the next step: a case study. I completed it the same day — March 31. From there, every stage involved unnecessary waiting and slow scheduling on Adyen’s side, while I responded within hours every single time: April 2: Invited to the skills interview; I shared my availability the same day. April 3: Received confirmation for April 8 — a five-day gap. April 8: Attended the skills interview (with three interviewers instead of two, as I was told). It went very well. April 10: Invited to the in-person interview; I replied immediately. April 12: Finally got confirmation for April 14 — again, a few days of unnecessary delay. April 14: Met two team leads in person; both expressed that I seemed like a strong fit. April 17: Recruiter emailed saying I’d move forward to meet the Head of Global Ops Support, which Adyen’s own website describes as the final interview in their hiring roadmap. April 17–21: Another four-day delay before receiving confirmation. April 22: I met with Alex, the Head of Global Ops Support. The discussion was positive, but he mentioned one more round after his, a surprise, since I thought I was already at the end. Confident I had advanced again, I emailed the recruiter on April 24 for an update. She replied, “Alex really enjoyed speaking with you. We have one other candidate to interview and I’ll have an update by Monday at the latest.” Monday came and went — nothing. I followed up April 29 — still no reply. Then on April 30, she finally emailed: “We’ve filled the role, but we’re expecting new headcount next quarter and would love to pick up where we left off once we have more openings.” That was disappointing, but I appreciated the message and hoped it wasn't an empty promise. I responded graciously, and she doubled down: “This isn’t the end of the road! Once new headcount opens, we’ll schedule your final interview — the one that should lead to an offer.” So I waited. May 21: She emailed again saying they got new headcount and she’d pass me off to another recruiter to continue the process. May 27: I met that recruiter. He confirmed I’d still go directly to the final interview once the req officially opened. June 10: I followed up. He said the hiring manager was OOO. June 12: He said the new opening was going to Singapore, not Chicago. After that, months passed — July, August — no updates. When I saw Adyen was expanding to a new Chicago office, I checked again and saw the role reposted. I applied immediately, within two hours of the posting and right after I emailed the recruiter to ask whether her earlier promise (to “pick up where we left off”) still stood. I also noted that the pay range had dropped twice within an hour, from $31–$39/hr to $26–$31/hr. Her reply: “I’m no longer the recruiter for the Ops Support team, but I’ll connect with the new recruiter and have them follow up with you accordingly.” A day later, I got the standard rejection email, no follow-up, no explanation, and no contact from any new recruiter. I emailed the original recruiter asking for clarity on why I was rejected 24 hours after reaching out about her promise. She never responded. After months of interviews, waiting, and reassurances, I was discarded with a form rejection. The recruiter's “I’ll have them reach out” was never followed by action, just silence. It’s not just the rejection that stings. It’s the complete lack of accountability and care. Every delay, every ignored follow-up, every broken promise compounded into a process that felt dishonest and dismissive. I put hope into the recruiter and Adyen's hiring process but time and time again i was made to feel like all that hope, effort, and resilience didn't matter, especially to the recruiter.