I received a call from the director of an adjacent department. We spoke about the position and he said I would make a great fit, especially given my technical background. Next, I spoke with a recruiter who asked me some basic intro questions and then set up four additional 30-minute interviews with members of the team. All told, 6 interviews totaling about 3 hours. This was in early December, and they informed me that the hiring manager was out on maternity leave, so I was not expecting to hear back anytime soon. However, mid-January comes and I reach out, no news. The recruiter tells me they should have a decision in a week or two. I finally contact her again end of February only to learn they filled the position with an internal hire. So, after 3 months, 3 hours of interviews, countless emails, and contact with almost a dozen members of the company, they went with an internal hire. This feels like they already had someone earmarked for the job and just interviewed external candidates to comply with some obscure HR policy. Especially frustrating because the recruiter essentially forgot about me until I reached out again at the end of February.