A niche role, three rounds over a month, and every requirement met. The interview had gone so well the candidate was proud of themselves; the pay would have changed their family’s life. A week and a half later came a meeting invite, and they walked in expecting the news.
It was an internal candidate. No job. Then, for twenty-plus minutes, the recruiter went on about how rare, how qualified, how unique they were — and to keep in touch. The question they were left with was not about the internal hire. It was why the meeting was set up at all: to deliver a decision that had clearly already been made, in a way that cost the candidate another hour of their life and most of their hope.