Recruiter Interview, HR Interview, Hiring Manager Interview, Executive Team Interview, and a second interview with the Hiring Manager.
At this point, I was told the shortlist was down to one other outside candidate and myself. I was then told by the recruiter I was the final candidate.
They asked me to a dinner interview with the International COO from Italy. Although I was already scheduled for a long-planned vacation with my wife, I canceled the vacation to attend the dinner interview believing I was the final candidate.
They then asked me to a ZOOM interview with the international HR Director from Italy. After this interview, I was made aware of a last-minute entry from inside the company.
Two weeks went by before I heard from the recruiter advising they had elected to make the offer to the last-minute internal candidate.
I later learned that the last-minute candidate was a female with no college degree or any leadership experience!
Yes ... after canceling a long-awaited vacation and being told I was the last candidate ... they gave the senior leadership position to a minority candidate without any qualifications clearly listed in the position profile.