Had phone interview on a Tuesday morning (went well) and was asked to send writing sample after. Writing sample sent Tuesday afternoon, they acknowledged and thanked me for sending it on Wednesday. Then no communication for 1.5 weeks until the following Friday. I email that Friday to follow up and am told the hiring manager has been in a training for the past week and they'll follow up mid-next week with an update. That time comes and goes with no communication. I wait another 1.5 weeks until the following Wednesday and follow up again. No response. I wait another 1.5 weeks until the following Friday and email again. Recruiter responds instantly (!) and says they just heard back from the primary recruiter yesterday and that job is being offered to another applicant. This was not the disappointing news after the month-long+ experience with the company, but I was disappointed that, at this point with an applicant chosen, they clearly would have had to gone through the whole in-person interview process in the past month or so I'd been looking for an update. It would have been the professional thing to let the candidate know when they're not chosen to advance in that early stage, rather than waiting until the position had been filled. Overall irritating experience, though the initial phone interview itself was pleasant.