**Senior Associate lateral process keeps expanding — red flag or normal?**

Looking for some perspective on a lateral process.

I’m a Senior Associate in at a BB in London (~5 YOE), interviewing for a broader advisory role at another firm. The process was initially for London and started very positively — met the senior team heads, got strong feedback, then met several members of the London team.

In my latest meeting, however, a few new things came up:

• They are also hiring in Paris and now want me to potentially meet the Paris team.
• A possible scenario mentioned was London for a year, then relocating to Paris. I said I’d potentially consider it, but honestly I don’t know — my life is in London and this wasn’t part of the original opportunity (my gf etc.)
• More surprisingly, I understood that if I meet Paris and they don’t think I’m a fit, this could effectively veto the London opportunity too, even if London likes me.
• There may still be several more interviews despite already meeting a lot of people.
• They’ve also discussed potentially keeping me at Senior Associate for an additional year rather than progressing to VP on my current timeline.
• The senior person was very upfront that the environment is extremely intense and that he is a demanding manager.

I really like the actual role and most of the London team, but I left the latest meeting with a much worse feeling about the process.