I was contacted via e-mail by a recruiter relatively quickly after submitting an application to setup a quick phone screen. The phone screen went well so a 30 minute call with the hiring manager was setup. This call also went well, we talked about the current state of the environment, projects, the team, etc. and what this new role/group was progressing towards for the company's new initiatives. I was invited in for an on-site interview with 5 people including the director, a few technical managers and team members. The interviews were positive, not too technically deep but higher level environment design and current processes used by teams. Also there was a lot of back and forth about past experience and projects that was relevant to what this role would be focused on. The 5th interviewer had informed the recruiter that they were pulled into something and would be unable to make the remote interview. The 4th one just never showed up for the call despite them reaching out to him and his manager while I sat there waiting. Then I was escorted out and told that if I was willing we could setup some time with these other team members early next week, I said I was more than happy to do a video call with them whenever they had time. I sent a follow up email the next morning to both the technical recruiter and other recruiter that was on site thanking them for having me in and to relay my thanks to those that I'd talked to for their time. Also that I was still willing to setup some time with the others that didn't show. The weekend went by, then all of next week went by so I sent a followup email to gauge status and next steps. I received no response. I waited a few more days then sent a final follow up as I'd grown a little frustrated at this point by still remained interested in the position. I got an email response apologizing for the lack of correspondence and that they had extended an offer to an internal candidate and were 'freezing' the recruitment until that was concluded. No phone call, no specifics, just a generic response about positive feedback and keeping me in mind for other upcoming roles. I was hopeful after the onsite interview but looking back it felt like they were just having me in to go through the motions of searching externally and already had someone in mind for the team. Which is a frustrating waste of time for someone that was genuinely interested in the position.