I went through seven rounds of interviews for a senior Product Manager role after the initial recruiter call. At the end of the process, The recruiter led me to believe I had been selected. She even negotiated compensation with me on HR’s behalf, which resulted in me accepting a below-market offer in good faith (with the hope of long-term growth at a larger organization) and turning down another higher-paying opportunity. For nearly three months, I was kept engaged with weekly check-ins that reinforced the impression that I was the chosen candidate, even though the position was either being closed or still being considered for others. I even successfully passed the formal background check pre-hiring, including third-party employment reference checks. As the final step, I was invited to an “informational” meet and greet call with a VP, which turned out to be poorly managed: the VP joined 15 minutes late to a 30-minute call, was unprepared, and had repeated connection issues that cut the conversation even shorter. He asked a few questions unrelated to the PM job with no apparent purpose. The call added little value to the process and left a very negative impression. However, shortly afterward, I was abruptly informed—without warning or a compelling reason—that I was no longer being hired due to “business priority changes.” This process wasted three months of time, cost me another job opportunity (which I had made the recruiter aware of), and demonstrated little transparency or integrity. For candidates: do not assume verbal assurances, background checks, or late-stage calls mean your offer is secure—treat everything as tentative until you have a signed contract, a start date, and you actually start! For Oracle: experiences like this damage your reputation as an employer. Candidates deserve honesty, clarity, and respect for their time and careers.