I was shortlisted for an interview with a Lead Programmer in January 2026. On the day of the interview, I connected to the call on time. Nobody else was there yet. I just assumed they were running late, which is fine - it happens. I was still sat in the call by myself after 15 minutes, so I emailed the recruiter who originally reached out to me to ask for an update. At the 40 minute mark, I gave up waiting and left the call. The recruiter called me after the interview slot and seemed confused as to what happened. He told me he'd chase it up and get back to me. I didn't hear back for a full day after that, and even then an explanation wasn't forthcoming. It wasn't until the following week (about five days after the interview was supposed to happen) that the recruiter called to explain that the interviewer was on PTO and my interview being scheduled was a clerical error. He further explained that they were struggling to find candidates having expertise with Unreal's GAS (despite that having no mention in the job description at all!) and had therefore decided to work with a co-development studio to meet their needs in the short term. Whether that meant they never intended to interview me and the appointment was purely accidental or someone simply changed their mind, I don't know, but it gets worse. By the end of the week, I had seen another Jagex recruiter post on LinkedIn about a range of positions they were still earnestly seeking to fill, including the very one I applied for! I pointed this out to the other recruiter and expressed my interest in re-applying, assuming the arrangement to work with the co-dev studio fell through for some reason. He quickly encouraged me to apply, so I did. I also applied for two other roles firmly within my skills and experience. I've just been rejected for one of them (over five weeks after applying!) and expect the same will happen with the other two if I hear back at all. Overall a very disappointing experience that has completely eroded my trust in Jagex, especially as I had developed an entire portfolio piece to demonstrate my suitability for the role. I understand recruitment in this industry is under a lot of pressure currently, but I don't think that excuses my experience.