This. Was. Brutal. My first run through with the interview process was pretty standard. I applied, and that was followed by a screening call with a recruiter. From there, I then interviewed with the team lead. This all went well, however I received an automated response indicating that the company had decided to go in a different direction. The end. Psych. About a month later, the recruiter reached back out to me. As it turns out, the "different direction" was an internal hire who opted not to take the role. That's fine-I'm all for hiring internally. They indicated that I was their next choice and asked if I was still interested. I said yes but that I was actively interviewing elsewhere. The recruiter indicated they were very keen and asked to accelerate their next steps with me. I met with the team lead again, ran through a general presentation and was informed that all looks good, and I should hear back shortly. A week and a half later, the recruiter called me and indicated that their VP's rejected my profile. Needless to say, I was stunned. The recruiter offered me a different role from what I had applied to, however indicated that I would need to interview all over again from the beginning for this role. I'm sorry, what??? Looking back now, it's pretty comical. To the recruiter & team lead-you two were both very kind, but make sure to sync up so the left & right hand know what they are doing.