Ever been the recipient of a promising job offer only to have it vanish into thin air? I can't even describe the rollercoaster of emotions and frustrations that come with being left high and dry after a verbal job offer falls through. If it was ever even a real offer to begin with. I received a scheduled call from a LinkedIn connection who said she worked for this company (someone I've been talking to on LinkedIn for a while). She offered me a job and shared the salary, but said she may be able to get more. She said not to worry and that it was a done deal. She just had to get the salary approved by her finance team. Was I a bit skeptical? Sure. But I've had something similar happen in the past. And I did get the job. Anyway...the anticipation grew as I eagerly awaited the formal offer, already envisioning myself in the new role. But days passed, and yesterday I was told there is no job. The initial feelings of excitement and hope quickly turned into anger, hurt, and so many other emotions. I feel like I've been led on, deceived by empty promises. The person who offered me the job seemed so genuine, so convincing. I trusted them, only to be let down in the worst way possible. To add insult to injury, I went through a background check and provided professional references (who were contacted and took the time to provide well-thought out responses to the questions), only to be left hanging with no job. It's a slap in the face—a reminder of how vulnerable and naive you can feel in the job hunt. This also happened to another LinkedIn connection of mine - at the same time, by the same person.