The first interview went very well. I didn’t occur to me at the time that the person I was supposed to meet with was unexpectedly out, so I had to speak with someone else. Since that person wasn’t there, I was told at the end of the interview that the next steps would be to speak with that person who wasn’t there originally. They said they’d followup with times to speak with that person. I never received any emails or calls on scheduling this next step. I felt the interview went very well so was anxiously awaiting speaking with the senior leader. After weeks of no response, I randomly got an email that they’d gone in another direction. I have no problem with rejection, but to align on next steps and to create hope in a candidate, only to fall short on your word was extremely hurtful and disappointing. They should have just told me they’d get back to me without saying I had made it to the next round. At the end of the day, If this is how they treat candidates, I can’t imagine how they’d treat their employees.