The hiring manager responded within a few days to my application and invited me to a phone screen which went well. A few days later I went in to meet with her and one other member of the team and everything seemed very positive. Then, I heard nothing for a week or so even though they had promised to make a decision in the next few days; when I pinged the hiring manager for feedback/status, I got no reply. A few days later I pinged the second guy I interviewed with and he said "yes we want to move forward and will loop HR in right away to get things going." Again no forward movement. A week or so later, I got a verbal offer from the hiring manager but the next day she called and said the company had a sudden hiring freeze. I never expected to hear back from them, but a few weeks later they called and made me another verbal offer. I asked to meet with them to reconnect and refresh the relationship, to which the hiring manager agreed. During the meeting I asked her to come up $5k on the offer since they had indicated their budget was higher and I was taking a huge pay cut at the salary they originally offered. The answer was no, but I was still willing to seriously consider the job at that point. I was promised the offer letter in writing that day or the next, but it never came. Finally, the hiring manager called to once again rescind the offer due to her feeling that I was overqualified for the role. What I found so shocking is that she knew my experience at the get-go. I never misrepresented my experience to her or anyone else. They knew how senior I was all along and yet they strung me along for six weeks. They should have known what they wanted at the beginning and pursued someone more junior.