I appreciated the interview process itself , the panel conversations were productive, and the feedback I received throughout was consistently positive. However, the way my application was handled was extremely disappointing. Based on the encouraging updates from the team, I genuinely believed I was progressing toward an offer. Acting in good faith, I put other opportunities on hold and even declined a couple of standing offers because of the confidence communicated to me. After being asked to wait for almost a month with minimal clarity, I was ultimately informed that the role went to an internal hire. While internal mobility is understandable, this should have been communicated far earlier, especially given the time, effort, and career decisions I made based on their updates. Professionalism and transparency are basic expectations, and candidates deserve the same level of clarity that companies expect from applicants. To be honest, I did not expect such an unstructured and borderline unprofessional experience from Stripe.