The application process for this role extended over a month, starting from my initial application in June. After submitting a one-way interview, I received a call several weeks later to schedule an interview with the manager. To my surprise, it turned out to be a panel interview with associates in lower-tier positions than the one I was applying for, and they asked the same questions I had already answered in the one-way video interview. Their responses during the interview gave the impression that I was a strong candidate for the role, and they mentioned needing to hire immediately. However, it took three weeks to receive any response about their decision, which seemed contradictory to their urgency. When I inquired about the role through email and voicemail, the hiring manager eventually got back to me, sounding like an offer to me was imminent. However, they informed me that they had already offered the position to an internal candidate a week ago who had previous short experience in the role, despite my many years of direct experience with a similar company. I feel deeply frustrated by the significant time investment, only to find out that they had already made an internal hire. I believe Lumen should create a separate internal-only listing to avoid such situations in the future.