They asked me for references while strongly signaling that I was their intended hire, they even discussed potential start dates and framed references as the final step. At that point, I actually chose to withdraw because I didn’t want to spend social capital on what I suspected might be a poor fit. After I stepped back, they reached out again and asked for a follow-up call, encouraging me to re-engage and suggesting the role was a better fit than I initially thought. Based on that conversation, I re-entered the process and ultimately provided my references, and they even confirmed that the feedback was very positive. Despite all of that, they later decided to continue with other finalists and ultimately hired someone else. What’s frustrating is the mixed signaling. If they weren’t confident in moving forward with me, why push so hard to bring me back into the process and request references? In my experience, it’s also uncommon for agencies to request references at this stage for non-leadership roles. It’s typically reserved for director or C-level positions. When that’s not the case, it's a signal that the company is poorly managed and people don't know what they're doing. I definitely dogded a bullet here. Thankfully, I had already accepted another role elsewhere, so even if they offered me the position, I would've declined. But overall, the experience felt unnecessarily drawn out and mismanaged. I'd definitely avoid this place.