I applied through a recruiter. The process took six months.

The conversations were excellent, which was the only functional part of the process. Everything after that deteriorated quickly and remained that way for almost six months. I experienced repeated promises of updates that never happened, long stretches of silence, and no clear ownership from either recruiting or the hiring team. Each message suggested that “someone else” would follow up, or that I had been “handed over to HR to receive an offer,” but no one ever did. Even when I proactively reached out multiple times, responses were vague or never arrived. I genuinely haven’t heard the phrase “sorry I missed this message” so many times from a single company. Everything internally relies on UDP, apparently. For a senior-level role, this level of disorganisation isn’t a minor inconvenience. It truly reflects deeper internal misalignment. If a company cannot communicate a simple “yes,” “no,” or “the role is on hold” for half a year, it raises serious questions about decision-making, ownership, and cross-team coordination. Great interviews, but an extremely disappointing process overall. Candidates deserve clarity, not months of limbo. But if you enjoy ghost stories, the hiring process is just perfect.

How would you approach working with a strategic customer who has overlapping but not fully aligned priorities with the company?