I had initially sent in a resume for this marketing role in July/August and did not hear anything back. Then, to my surprise, in October I received a series of calls regarding 2 opportunities I had expressed interest in. Initially there was a phone screen by the outsourced recruiting firm they use (Kenexa). I was also required to fully complete the online profile through Kenexa's tool - Taleo. The profile has 8-9 levels to it so this required some time. Interestingly, they required references upfront before even knowing if you made it past the recruiter.
I made it past the phone screen and was invited in for a face to face interview. The first interview was to be with one person but there were two in there. That was perfectly fine with me, I appreciate the need for multiple opinions and respecting people's time. I left that interview and then 2 weeks or so later, was called back for another series of meetings. During this visit I met with several colleagues (2 at a time) and then the section leader. I was very optimistic as the meeting seemed to go well and there was a good connection between myself and all of the individuals I met with. Additionally, I possessed the skills and experience that had been documented as being critical to the role.
I received an email notification from their applicant tracking system that the position had gone to someone else. To this day, I have not received one phone call back from anyone that I met with letting me know that while I had made it to the top 3, I did not get the position. I am somewhat disenchanted by this fact. I did send the note along to the VP that I initially met with to find out where I was lacking so I could work on that....