A job seeker who had recently lost their position applied for a well-paid management role at a Fortune 500 company. What followed was not five interviews, not six, but eight: five formal rounds, one working interview, and two sessions billed as meet-and-greets that turned out to be interviews in disguise.
They drove six hours round trip for the final round. Every step went well. A contact high up in the company told them they had it in the bag. After the last interview, the VP said they would be contacted in short order regarding next steps.
That was the last they heard. The follow-up emails went unanswered. The phone did not ring. Eight interviews, an internal referral, a VP's promise, and a six-hour drive produced exactly zero words of closure.