I applied for a UK-based remote role in a support function via the Morgan Group Recruitment website at the beginning of February. The job ad included a short video with members of the hiring team talking about looking for their ‘missing piece’ but gave no mention of salary. Following my expression of interest, within days I received an email from the hiring team (not HR) promising a ‘positive experience’, to ‘keep me updated throughout the process’ and reassurance that I’d be ‘communicating with a person, rather than receiving automated responses’. I was asked to provide more detail about me and why I was interested in the role. I was also asked to share an example project as ‘a way of getting to know you a little better’. I responded immediately, days later the hiring team responded, this time asking me to share salary expectations. I cited broad bands from similar roles but that I was keen to have a conversation based on my skills and experiences when discussing renumeration. Evidently my figures were in line with budget for the role as I received a response ‘appreciating my honesty’ and stating that the team were ‘interested in continuing a conversation with me’. This was to be a Teams ‘discussion’ with two team members 10 days later. The discussion, which only one team member could attend, was pretty informal allowing me to find out more about the role and pull out some pertinent aspects of my skills and experiences. Later that day I received an email to an interview with competency-based questions and was asked to prepare a 10-minute presentation. I responded with availability. Details were firmed up a few days later for an interview a week after that – at the very end of February. The interview itself, again on Teams, was fairly standard stuff. I was told that the hiring team were likely to be busy over the next week or so but I should hear back soon. With this info in mind, I didn’t immediately chase for feedback or updates but when three weeks passed, I sent an email nudge to the team and received an email apologising for the delay and advising that all candidates could expect updates later that week. A month later and still without updates, in mid-April, I sent another email to the hiring team’s email account, appreciating that events can delay hiring or even stall it altogether, asking if the role recruited. I’m still waiting for a response. Whilst appreciating that small support teams in global businesses have a lot on their plate, I’m left feeling a little bemused as to what exactly happened here and would have appreciated the promised ‘updates’ to deliver a ‘positive experience’ because they certainly haven’t materialised. I’m left having invested time and effort, having jumped through numerous hoops, seemingly only to be ghosted. It strikes me as odd that HR seemingly had little to do with this hiring process and that there was no representation outside of the hiring team in candidate comms and the interviews themselves. It all feels a bit chaotic but, on balance, like I’ve probably dodged some bullets in not landing the role.