Waiting Until The Last Interview to Ask --"Would You Be Willing to Relocate?"

Need to vent. I got called by a recruiter for a "almost entirely remote" job. (I live three hours away and they wanted me to come in one day a month, which I said was fine.) I can say it's an AI company, but can't name and shame because of a NDA.

I go through five rounds of interviews and do a fuckingfour hour long take home test, only for the dumbass COO to call me and ask if I'd relocate because they've now decided it can't be a remote job. I calmly explain the pay was not nearly good enough to uproot my family for, and remind her that they called me knowing where I live. I then went through all of the ways I can provide more value where I live versus where they are located (I'm closer to people they would need to regularly meet with, for example.) I got a shrug and "we'll have to think about it."

Not surprisingly, they didn't even have the guts to call me and had the recruiter call me to tell me they've decided they need someone who can come in five days a week. Fucking assholes. I had to take tons of time away from my kids for a job you were never seriously going to offer me.

The take home test is the most galling part. I specifically told them I don't want to waste four hours unless they were incredibly serious about my candidacy. They had the CEO call me to assure me they really really really were. Lies.

This job market is fucking bullshit.