I reached the hiring manager directly and sent my resumé. She scheduled an initial interview right away. She later contacted me to request a second interview with her and the person who previously held the position they were hiring for and who had recently been promoted. The HM also sent me a task assignment that was pretty straightforward. We had the interview and everything went well. They had every opportunity to ask specific questions. Five minutes after finishing the second interview I received an email from the Talent Office saying I had moved on to the reference check stage of the hiring process. I provided more references than they had asked for. Excellent references! After that the HM ghosted for 2 weeks. After sending her an email inquiring about the status of my application, she replied by asking me to clarify some things on my resumé. I did it right away. A few more weeks of radio silence went by. I again requested info about the status of my application. Then she changed her stance to say they had not yet made a decision and were still in the hiring process. More weeks went by and nothing. I touched base a few more times, only to get vague replies that felt like she was leaving me hanging without a definite rejection per se. At the end she said the Talent Office was “giving her a hard time” because I didn’t have the credentials, education or experience, which was not true and I proved it beyond any doubt. The position called for a person to translate curriculum, not to create it. I was clearly overqualified but instead of being honest, she kept leading me on. In our last conversation (5 mos after the initial contact) she said they were creating 2 translator positions and promised to send me the job postings. Never did! As a hiring manager, her behavior was disrespectful and unprofessional, especially for a person who says she champions equity. Last time I checked the position had been open for at least 6 months. Apparently they hiring process is not very straightforward after all