I was moved forward quickly from Indeed to a phone screening to a Zoom by this industry recruiter. I had been told on a Wednesday that I was a front runner for the position, and they just needed to coordinate a meeting with the busy owner's schedule. They even specifically indicated it would not be before the end of the week but did tell me to plan to look for something at beginning of the following week. They also said however they would follow up with me about specifics by the end of the week. On a phone call with the recruiter I had indicated my desire to be mindful of the fact I had received another offer so please keep me posted as much as possible and please try and coordinate sooner than later. I literally put off a decision with this other offer in order to further explore this opportunity as I believed it was a better fit. And didn't think it was a risk because as I said, I was told I was a front runner. So, I was convinced it was worth delaying the other opportunity. Jump to Friday.... I've heard nothing by the end of the day. I followed up in an effort to arrange my (also busy) schedule for the next week in order to accommodate the meeting with the owner. I received no phone call or email response. Then while checking email over the weekend I had seen I received one from this recruiter at the very end of the business day Friday. It gave no details and just said "position was put on hold". Obviously I was left very confused, and even more so when I noticed I was "matched" with the same position that was supposedly put on hold on ZipRecruiter. Of course I thought well maybe the posting just had not caught up. I sent an email to my contact at recruiter asking for more clarification, asking if this job really was on hold as I also noticed the job was also on their corporate site after a few clicks of the mouse. I reminded them I had put another opportunity on hold and I was literally told I was a front runner and felt I deserved some professional clarification. This email went unanswered indefinitely. I also tried in-boxing the recruiter on Linked In as we had become connected. She never responded there either. And silly enough I reminded her that you can see when someone reads a message there. So really no "technology" excuses could apply. She STILL did not reply. I kept seeing the job posting on both Indeed and Zip Recruiter over the next week and checked the corporate site where job was still there plain as day. So clearly what I'm left with is an experience where I was 1) totally misled about an opportunity 2) never given the professional decency of a timely follow up and clarification and 3) perhaps the most disconcerting is a "professional" recruiter outright lied to me about a job being on hold. In a last ditch effort I emailed one more time and indicated my frustrations with all of the above AND copied the owner. I mentioned that I would feel compelled to share my experience online and in my network to make sure people knew how this organization handled things if I did not hear back from someone by the end of the day. I was FINALLY contacted literally at 4:30EST that day by my contact but we couldn't connect until the next day. Mind you I had copied the OWNER of the business and to this day heard nothing about my experience which blows my mind. Anyway, when me and contact connected she really provided zero insight to anything and chalked up the bad communication to "reorg" issues or something. She gave no further insight about the 180 switch and never apologized for misleading me OR more importantly outright lying about the position being on hold. She talked in cryptic generalities and kept saying while she knew what the issue was ultimately its her client's decision and she also didn't have authority to give me feedback. Needless to say I was EXTREMELY frustrated at this point. I mean how in the world is anyone supposed to learn anything in the interviewing process when there is zero feedback or reasons given for everything that happened? She claimed she would contact the client and see what she could share and call me back the next day. Only thing she has ever been accountable to was that return call. However, it was a waste of everyone's time as I just got the same general "client just didn't think you were a good fit and I can't tell you more as they are my client". And when I say I could not have been MORE of a fit for this job description I would not be exaggerating- I've literally been doing exactly what they are looking for for the past 3 years. Needless to say, I was left just as confused and frustrated as that initial email I received after being told the "front runner" thing. I of course communicated that I felt as a recruitment company while I understand the client is a priority it would likely be good practice to also think of the employee talent they are looking to place as well. Bottom line: If you are a candidate, BEWARE. And honestly companies using them to find people should be aware too as I would not want my "representative" to put anyone through this scenario.