Originally submitted my resume in November directly and at same time had a friend submit via internal referral tool. No response and job disappeared shortly afterward from boards. Job re-appeared in January, so I submitted again. The recruiter failed to call not only on the first scheduled interview time, but also a second one as well. Only when I called her directly was I screened. Phone interview was set up with the hiring manager which went very well. She said that she wanted to move forward with an in-person interview to meet her and other team members (no ambiguity here, she was clear). She also made mention that the process could move slowly so to please be patient. Fast-forward two weeks... I received basically a boilerplate rejection saying that they have decided to pursue other candidates with more pharma background. The email didn't even indicate that I had even had a phone interview with the manager, it simply thanked me for 'expressing interest' in the opportunity. Sigh... I wanted to give benefit of the doubt since there wasn't an ounce of personalization to the email and check just in case it was sent in error. The recruiter simply responded with "we are pursuing other candidates at this time". I am extremely disappointed and disheartened by this kind of behavior from companies. This was a job that I was an extremely good fit for and had high hopes that it would become at least a serious discussion if not a solid opportunity. I had a great call with the hiring manager, and I was an internal candidate referral - and then to be left hanging on the phone *twice* by the recruiter and then simply cut loose after *being invited* to interview feels like rude corporate behavior. I can easily dismiss any of the above if it were a single occurrence. I realize people get busy and miss appointments, I realize that after phone screens, companies may get more qualified candidates as they interview more people. But as a single candidate, I shouldn't have to experience ALL of these. And it seems perfectly reasonable to expect more than a boilerplate rejection notice after being interviewed AND having an employee refer you for a position.

It was very in depth and related to the compliance side of event planning. I did have to interview with a total of 6 people which was time intensive but worth it in the end.