Am I crazy

I applied for a director role recently ( this process got dragged out over 2 months)
Applied Jan and didn’t get feedback on application until Sept
Five stages
Stage 1 - Application
Stage 2 - HR Screening
Stage 3 - 1hr interview with prospective line manager (N+ 1)
Stage 4 - 1hr interview with HR Director
Stage 5 - 1hr interview with HR VP (Took two attempts because at the first attempt I turned up and the interview forgot to turn up for the call)
Stage 6 - 30 mins interview with Regional President @ 7am because this is the only time he could do

What is bizarre for me, is that I successfully passed all stages until stage 6 where I had an interview with their regional president and his feedback was not progressing
When I queried further on actual constructive feedback, they couldn’t give me anything just that he said not progressing

I also feel like I have invested a lot of time in this recruitment process and deserve more than a one liner
They have now reached out and are offering me an alternative position for which I have to start the recruitment process from scratch
What makes it more bizarre, is that the alternative position is one work level lower than the director role but the role description is literally like for like apart from a smaller regional scope

Also if I wasn’t good enough for the original role, why am I a candidate and being recommended for this role

Ironically had the first call for this alternative role today @ 7am
I kid you not I woke up to prepare and received a cancellation at 6am

My gut tells me to cut my losses and move on
I feel like my recruiting experience so far is highlighting a lot of red flags about the organisation and I shouldn’t ignore them

I just need some form of sanity check because I have worked for my current company for a decade and i have become institutionalised so i dont know if these are recruiting norms or no nos
Any insight you can offer is much appreciated

Posted Sep 14, 2026, 8:07 PM UTC

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