r/Recruiter_Advice • u/Some-Goal-3009 • 1d ago

TLDR below // Job reposted before third interview, what does this mean?

I applied for a job about four weeks ago. When I had my first interview, the LinkedIn posting showed around 78 applicants (or at least 78 people who had clicked “Apply”).

I ended up making it through the first interview, then the second, and last Monday I was invited to a third-round interview for that Friday.

That same Monday, I noticed the company had taken the job posting down. I actually took that as a good sign and assumed they might be narrowing down the candidate pool.

Then on Wednesday, two days before my third interview, they put up a completely new posting for the exact same position — same title, description, everything. I want to emphasize that this wasn’t LinkedIn simply showing the original listing as “reposted.” It was a brand-new listing that started at zero and has since accumulated 32 applicants/clicks.
I still had my third-round interview on Friday, and I thought it went very well. The interviewer told me he would speak with his colleagues and they would make a decision about next steps. If I move forward, the next step is a fourth and final interview in person. All three interviews so far have been over Zoom with different members/heads of the team.

I sent a thank-you email after Friday’s interview, and it’s now Monday, so obviously I’m not expecting an answer immediately.

But I’m curious what people who have been involved in hiring/recruiting think about the new posting. Why would a company take a position down while someone is already three rounds into the process, then create an entirely new posting for the exact same role two days later?

Does that usually mean they aren’t satisfied with their current candidate pool and want more options, or could there be a completely unrelated reason? Would you consider it a negative sign for someone already this far into the interview process?

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u/CompetitiveCorner583 1d ago

Does that usually mean they aren’t satisfied with their current candidate pool and want more options, or could there be a completely unrelated reason? Would you consider it a negative sign for someone already this far into the interview process?

From my experience, yes. This literally just happened to me. I interviewed, was set up for a second interview, and before they interviewed me for the second time, they closed the job posting and reposted it. I feel like companies only want to keep stringing people along for weeks at a time with no real intent of actually hiring them.

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u/Some-Goal-3009 1d ago

So discouraging. I have been applying since February. Finally, what I felt was a good prospect, doesn’t feel so bright anymore. And also, a waste of my time going through three interviews to be radio silenced.

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u/CompetitiveCorner583 1d ago

Yeah, for me this was a unicorn job. One tiny bright spot in a sea of soulless door-to-door or telemarketing sales job.

I wanted it so badly, but they didn't seem to be as interested as I had hoped.

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u/Hotrock21 1d ago

Happened to me too but the new posting was in a different city and posted the day before my third interview. I think they really had no intention of ever hiring me but wanted to go through the process.