I recently had several rounds of phone and Zoom interviews with team members and various leaders all the way up to and including the CFO (twice) with glowing feedback every time stretched out over a two month period. Then I was offered an opportunity to visit the corporate office in Provo for what was described as a Meet & Greet. For reference, I am located in the Great Lakes area and told them from day one that I wanted to visit the area if we were to proceed to an offer stage as the position required relocation. In the discussions with the recruiter I stated I wanted to stay a few extra days while in Provo to visit the various areas and get to know the community I may be relocating to; all of my travel was covered by Qualtrics but not for my spouse that I disclosed from day one and after the invite they would be accompanying me. While at the facility I was provided an open forum discussion with what would have been my team. Also, during this half day Meet & Greet I met with Legal Counsel, the hiring manager, another global leader I would work hand in hand with, and lastly the CFO again. At no point during the Meet & Greet was new information covered or more “interviewing” conducted. It was really an open forum discussion about budgets, future growth plans, needs from stakeholders, visions moving forward; a place for me to interview them really. I left with smiles and handshakes and a promise to follow up. I received that follow up three business days later stating that they were going in a different direction and the reasoning was something that was very obvious and openly discussed from day 1 of the process (i.e. I didn’t have their type of “high tech” experience, but in my profession it’s really irrelevant). To say I’m a irritated to have wasted all this time, energy and money is an understatement. I fully understand I was guaranteed nothing but to have let this whole process transpire where I don’t think they truly understood their true wants and needs until after the process was over is sad for such a great organization that prides themselves in the employee “experience management” arena. Buyer beware!