Application was initially declined after brief email correspondence with no screening call.
Received a phone call out of the blue 2 months later (first week of January), was phone screened on the spot at 5:30pm and asked to attend an in-person interview with less than 24 hours’ notice. Interviewed and was immediately invited for a second round which was so urgent it had to be conducted the next day (a Friday) on the other side of the city as the hiring manager was working from home. 2nd round was conducted in a cafe round the corner from the hiring manager's house and again took place with less than 24 hours’ notice.
Hiring manager confirmed I would be put through to the next stage to meet stakeholders the following week. This did not happen and after no feedback / moves to schedule the agreed next stage over that week, I was contacted to advise the role was now 'on hold' with no further explanation offered.
Completely understandable that budgets and plans change, but the whole process was chaotic and a really poor candidate experience.