I found a posting on LinkedIn for a Director of Community position. The description noted that there had been lots of interest, so the position supervisor asked that each applicant make a video talking about their qualifications. (Side question: had applicants are already in the interview pool need to do this?) As most people know, shooting video of yourself is not easy. It's an artificial environment that even experienced communicators struggle with. I used an HD camera, a quality mic, outlines my points, and rehearsed. It takes a few hours to get right. I submitted a video cover letter on Aug 2 and on Aug 4th, I got this message: "Thank you so much for your interest in working at Process Street! The Community Manager role that you applied for has now been filled. Please continue to check our jobs page for new positions that fit your qualifications as we're always growing and looking to add awesome people to our teams! Best, The Process Street Team" Based on the timing, they were prepared to make and offer or had made an offer when I submitted my video. In this message, you'll also notice, the job had been downgraded from a Director to a manager level. So, I applied for a position that effectively didn't exist. This is another example of a young startup not able to decide on what they need. If you're going to ask people to put in more time, you should also do more than the minimum to communicate with candidates, especially those that are in fact qualified.