1. Recruiter interview - very nice discussion covering my experience and background. At the end of the discussion it was mentioned that I would progress and actually be considered for a consulting role. It was stated that the PM job description is used to pull in candidates but the actual position would be something else.
2. Interview with a "peer". Went well. Progressed to next step.
3. Candidate exercise: creating a client kick-off meeting presentation which required a MS project plan with tasks, dependencies, resources, etc, communication plan, metrics and dashboards, change management plan, timelines, risk management plan, and a project status template. Other than a slide deck template and a brief description of the client project, zero information regarding scope, timelines, budget, or templates were provided. In the real world project planning is not performed in a vacuum. The client team is consulted and a plan developed accordingly. The project kick off meeting is the beginning of this process. Sadly, I spent time working on this activity which took significant time creating all the documents from scratch. I wish i had withdrawn my candidacy instead of spending time on this activity.
A week later I received the email stating that I would not move forward.
It should also be noted that people I am connected to were contacted. I have seen others comment that names were requested. It is very likely someone is reaching out to your LinkedIn contacts. I have no problem with this but I prefer transparency. I was "warned" about this company and their process, but I gave it a go to see for myself.