Student Loan Hero interview questions

This was by far the most drawn-out interview process I’ve ever experienced. Start to finish, it lasted more than 4 months. The initial interview was informal but seemed fine, although she seemed a bit rushed and disinterested. Apparently that was satisfactory, though, as I was given another interview with a more senior person. After acing that, I was given a video interview with a team, which seemed to go the best of the three stages. Oh, and I was also given a very lengthy, unpaid test assignment. There was a lot of back-and-forth and, after inquiring about my application status, no answers could be given. Finally, I was told that my position was no longer available and had been filled — which would have been alright, except that it was still listed as open on their site/Glassdoor and remained that way for months. I have heard stories of companies seeking new perspectives, who hold “interviews” with unpaid assignments to get fresh (and free) ideas. I’m not saying that’s what this company does, but based on the reviews here and what I’ve heard through the grapevine, it does make me wonder if anyone actually gets hired here... ever.

I applied to Student Loan Hero after receiving a LinkedIn push notification about the role. I had been following them as I have worked remotely in the past and was interested in doing so again. (My current company is very flexible, but not fully remote.) My current role is the same title, and I have consulted in fintech, so I thought it would be a great fit. It was! The first interview went well, albeit there were some initial technical issues. The woman that screened me was apparently unable to call me and after 15 mins of waiting I received a “sorry I missed you” email. I immediately responded and we were able to connect, where upon she told me that she had been having this issue all week. (If that was the case, why didn’t she suspect it?) The interview went well (while we talked, however, her children were right by her and loud), and I was scheduled for a follow-up with a more senior person. That interview went well, too, and a few short days later I was informed of an hour long, unpaid test project I needed to complete. I completed the project last night and then today received a heavily misspelled email saying that due to a recent operational change, the position I was in consideration for is no longer available. Maybe they could’ve had this epiphany before I took time out of my full-time job to complete their assignment? Seems like they’re flying at the seat of their pants. Very unprofessional. Feel like I dodged a bullet.