This was honestly one of the most frustrating and insulting interview experiences I have ever had, and I was disturbed to find that others have been subjected to it as well over the years - yes, as far back as 2013 on here.
Let me start by saying that I initially applied to a Project Management Internship opening. A recruiter reached out and invited me to interview for the full-time Associate Project Manager opening instead; I was thrilled since I had not seen it posted, and that she took the time to review my qualifications. I passed the phone interview, passed the "auditions" (which are assessment tests that take up more of your free time than necessary), and I even passed the in-person interview, which consisted of 2 meetings with over 8 people total. After they convened, another recruiter I was passed off to informed me that the final step would be to pass a background check, so I was sure I was receiving a job offer. The process at this point had already taken over 4 weeks/a month. Then all of a sudden, this recruiter sends an email a week later stating the manager I would be reporting to was not at my in-person interview - I would need to come back to meet her. How did something like that get overlooked that now you need to backtrack? Nonetheless, I was flexible and took additional time off of work to meet with her one-on-one. What struck me as odd is that she asked almost all of the same questions I had already been asked again, as if nobody had documented their feedback to my responses. The process overall seemed redundant, but I happily answered them again anyway. She also mentioned that the position would be a bit of an "experiment" as they role out a new "Pod" system. Nobody had mentioned any of that in my first round of in-person interviews, but okay. Another week goes by and instead of receiving details on completing a background check, I'm sent the dreaded automated rejection email, after everything. I was shocked. Even worse, I wasn't even considered for the lower level opportunity as an intern. I attempted to follow-up to gather some kind of constructive feedback and was not provided any.
Recap: one of their recruiters RECOMMENDED that I interview for a higher level role, I passed ALL of the steps, spent 6 grueling weeks committing my time to interview prep, online tests, taking time off of work for 2 in-person interviews, only to receive nothing. If how they treat their candidates is any indication of how they treat their employees, then good riddance.