They reached out to me via an intermediary for a job that was never posted and has not been posted since the time of my interview (at least to my knowledge). I did not apply in any conventional sense, nor did they ever seem to have the role officially posted on any of the popular online job boards or their own career page. Instead, the recruiter shared a job description via Linkedin that was written on a word doc. The salary range listed on the job description seemed well below par for the role, especially given their specific problems and the amount of effort it would require to help the org get to a more stable place I immediately indicated this, but was told that I could potentially make a strong business case with the hiring manager to potentially get an offer that matched my desired salary range. In retrospect, this should have been a non-starter and I should have ended the process there. That's on me. From there, I participated in several rounds of interviews with a recruiter, the ostensible hiring manager (twice), as well as several other people with whom the role would interact. The experience was actually quite good. I enjoyed my conversations with each person, felt that I more-than-adequately represented my skills and experience. In fact, there seemed to be a lot of mutual interest in working together, and each step gave me a ton of hope that an offer was forthcoming. The final step was another conversation with the hiring manager, who seemed to want a firm commitment from me in advance of an offer. I gave her my word that I would bring my all to the role, but that I also required commitment from the org to provide a work environment in which said hard work would be rewarded, which I hardly think would constitute a red flag on their part. In fact, it should go without saying that employment and professional commitment are two way streets. After all that, I received a really impersonal and boilerplate response from their recruiter that they had gone with a candidate whose skills and experience best matched their needs. After seeking specifics, I was told none could be provided, which is extremely disappointing, especially since the tone and tenor of each of the interviewers could not have been more positive. What's more, a great deal of *every* interview I had with their hiring panel focused on the relative deficiencies of the incumbent person in the role for which I was interviewing. They also made it extremely clear that this person was, in fact, still employed by the org. In retrospect, this also should have served as a red flag, especially since I am fairly certain they have not hired anyone else from the outside, and that the person in the role (whom they were ostensibly trying to replace) is still there. All in all, this was a very disappointing experience. I suspect that they never had the role officially posted and that these conversations were more of a fishing expedition meant to test the open market, rather than a true recruitment effort.