I had a good initial call with the recruiter and was advanced to the next step, which involved a take-home project. The project consisted of 10 tasks, which, in my opinion—and in the opinion of some colleagues—was excessive. I spent several hours completing it and submitted it ahead of the deadline. They confirmed receipt and said they would be in touch soon. After a week passed without any update, I followed up multiple times but was essentially ghosted. It's frustrating considering the time and effort I put into the project. A simple email informing me they were moving in a different direction would have been far better than being ignored.