- Approached by a recruiter for a screening call - Initial 45 minutes call with Manager - Week given for a take home task - Meeting with two Managers and COO to present the task and answer questions The recruiter called back a week later saying I was the top choice and they wanted to offer me the role, but they needed to discuss the package because it was slightly over what they had budgeted for the role. They went back and forth for almost 8 weeks, and the news was always that there were internal issues but they were still keen to proceed. They had actually already offered the role to someone before I had been invited to interview, but it fell through when he accepted another role after they took too long to put together the package. I should have seen the red flags but assumed after one person already fell through, they'd have their act together for the next hire. Luckily I had continued to interview with other companies and just eliminated them from my process because it was so utterly unprofessional. There was a take-home task which took a full day and turned out to be a waste of time. I'm not sure how you can get to an interview with a COO for a role that doesn't actually seem to exist, you'd think he is too busy and integral to the running of a business to participate in ghost interviews. I felt bad for the recruiter who was also putting in time and effort.