Postdoc application: professor verbally committed to hire me, but now says that regulations have changed and keeps delaying the process I applied for a post doctoral position a few months ago. The initial response from the professor in charge was warm and enthusiastic and he even made a verbal commitment to hire me. But then he just stopped replying to my mails for sometime and then out of the blue he told me that the regulations have changed and I would have to be interviewed by another person. Following that, he scheduled my interview several times only to be canceled at the last minute. Now he has again stopped responding to my queries, which I make at intervals of at least 10 days. Is this normal in post doc recruitment? How long does it take to process post doc applications? Should I start looking for other positions?
Is this normal in post doc recruitment?


No, this is obviously not normal. There is something going on, and your guess is as good as mine as to what that is exactly. Maybe there is indeed some sort of administrative chaos due to changing regulations. Maybe the professor hired somebody else and is trying to weasel out of his earlier commitment to you. Maybe the position just got cancelled, and the prof is trying to find funding to hire you anyway (and failing). Maybe it's something completely different. There is just no way to tell from the outside.


  How long does it take to process post doc applications?


That really depends. However, "a few months" certainly sounds like the upper bound for how long selecting a postdoc should take.


  Should I start looking for other positions?


Yes, independently of what is really going on, I would not get my hopes up that there is indeed a position for you in this department in the future. Maybe you get lucky and it works out after all, but at this point relying on this post seems to be very optimistic.