Approached by a recruiter for the role, although I have various links with current and previous employees. It was a fairly informal remote chat with the CD followed by an in-person interview, both positive experiences. The communication following this, however, was poor. The feedback given was that they had decided to promote within the business so the role was filled that way. A couple of weeks later I was contacted by a different recruiter for the same role, and on further investigation they were very much still advertising and interviewing for the role. This illustrated an inability to feedback to candidates openly and authentically which is at best avoidant and at worst disrespectful. It shows a lack of integrity and respect, and is arguably very short-sighted as the industry is small; I have heard similar experiences in terms of communication/feedback from other industry professionals who have interviewed with them. Hopefully in time there will be an improvement in the company’s self-awareness for how their conduct in these processes impacts on their wider perception in the industry. TLDR: Be open and honest with feedback - if that doesn’t feel comfortable, reflect on the why as this could indicate some problematic hiring criteria, either conscious or unconscious.