First I had an interview with HR – it was great and I learned a lot about the company. After that, I had a second interview with the hiring manager and another person from procurement. The hiring manager was late, which can be tolerated, but if you’re a manager, you should respect other people’s time – especially in procurement. They asked about my experience, how I handle difficult stakeholders, and what my responsibilities are. The interview was on a Tuesday, and they told me I’d get feedback by the end of the week or early next week at the latest. I didn’t hear anything, so the following Wednesday I sent a polite follow-up email to check the status. Right after my email, they replied saying they had shortlisted candidates and liked my profile, but decided to move forward with others. It honestly feels like they didn’t choose anyone at all and that this might be a ghost position – the timing of their response was too immediate. During the interview, they asked a lot of detailed questions about how things are done in my current company, which makes me think they were more interested in gathering information than actually hiring, especially since this is a new department. Also worth mentioning – I have extensive experience in procurement, so the outcome doesn’t really add up.