Headhunted then rejected

[glasswood]

I got headhunted for a dream job. I thought I was finally going to get the role that I wanted. I built up connections with the firm and some employees, prepared for weeks for the interview, and then rejected

Why bother telling someone you have highly
impressed them and strongly encourage them to apply for a role if you’re going to reject them?

Just needed a rant!

Bastards! That's lousy. Their loss

Because you're not competing on the basis of whether they like you or not. You're competing with other people of whom one might be a better fit than you even if they think you're great. Also sometimes you can have a great track record and just not be right for a job. Being called by a recruiter doesn't mean you're guaranteed the position.

Did the company head hunt you or was it an external recruiter?

The role may have been withdrawn entirely due to headcount/ budget/ cancelled project, or the person currently in the role may have been persuaded not to leave, which is obviously easier for the company. It's not necessarily personal, though it obviously feels that way. If you haven't resigned from your current job you've lost nothing and are better prepared for your next application.

That's annoying OP. Hopefully an even better job will be along soon 🤞🏻

Headhunted by who please? The company or a recruitment agent?

Particularly if it was a 3rd party recruiter bear in mind their job is to get the best possible pool of people put forward for the job - it’s in their interests to flatter you and exaggerate your chance of success to get people who might not otherwise actively be job hunting to apply for the role.

You might well have been a really strong candidate but someone else might have just had that bit more experience or been a slightly better fit for the role.

Commiserations though, it sucks to go through a recruitment process only to get your hopes dashed.

I was headhunted by the recruitment office of the firm itself!

This happened to me. At a school nursery. I knew the manager from when my dc had been there and she got in touch via a mutual friend to say I should get in touch. I did, she said all I had to do was apply and the job was mine. They gave the job to somebody else. It was awful and I will never forgive her for treating me so badly. It really dented my confidence. I was also really happy when the person they did recruit got pregnant really quickly once in the role and then took 12 months maternity (which they struggled to fill as a temporary role), went back for her qualifying time to keep her mat pay, then handed in her notice. The next person lasted 6 months then got a better job. They have kept the next person for a couple of years now, but had they employed me, They would have saved themselves quite a lot of faffing.

It’s shit that some people think it’s ok to treat people so badly.

I guess then op there was just a better candidate, did you think you were the only one?

It happens all the time - you are never the only candidate for a role you get called for. Undoubtedly they did like you, but only one person can ever get the job. I'm sorry that you were disappointed, but tbh it is always important to remember that a job is never, ever "yours" until you have received and accepted a formal offer.