I need to vent about my recent interview experience. I was interviewing for a Right Hand / Delivery Ops & PM role directly reporting to the CEO at a startup. I felt really good about the process; I passed the initial recruiter screening and the HR interview without any issues. The vibe with HR was fantastic, and I was feeling confident as I moved forward. Yesterday, I had my final interview with the CEO, who is the typical "creative visionary" type. We had a great conversation, and I answered his operational riddles well. At the end of the call, he told me, "I absolutely loved talking to you, I really love the way you think and how your brain works." I was on cloud nine, thinking I might have finally landed the job. But then he dropped the bomb: "BUT we have a lot of strong candidates, so we'll see. HR will let you know by Wednesday." That was a gut punch. He didn't even reply to my thank you email afterwards, leaving me anxious as I wait for Wednesday. I went from feeling like the job was in the bag to feeling like I want to crawl into a hole. Now I'm just preparing myself for either rejection or being ghosted. It's such a rollercoaster, and I'm trying to keep my head up while also looking for other opportunities.