Three interviews. Five references, assembled on request. Two weeks in which the recruiter had done everything short of a handshake to make the candidate believe the job was close — adding them on LinkedIn, and talking salary. The candidate was, by their own admission, hyped up to believing they had a real shot.
Then came the email, timed to the exact moment they were waiting on the final decision. The role, it said, was being paused. They had, apparently, only just found out. The recruiter offered the usual consolation: we would love to stay in touch.
To the candidate it was not a soft landing but a bait and switch — an enthusiasm real enough to extract three interviews, five references and a salary conversation, and cheap enough to withdraw in a single paragraph. They could not bring themselves to reply that day. They had, they said, already drafted the other letter.