Contacted by an external recruiter on behalf of NeuStar. Told they were seeking a Senior Systems Integrator and wanted to move fast on interviewing candidates. E-mailed an updated resume that same day and was advised that the interview would take place soon thereafter. A "mere" 17 days later, I had a phone interview with the manager for the position, with the understanding that if that went well, an in-person interview would follow. After the phone screen, scheduling of the second interview followed promptly. At that point I was told that this was the "final" interview, and to expect a decision by the end of the next week. The second interview was a panel interview with individuals from several different departments, followed by a one on one interview with a more senior manager. After that interview, I received positive feedback, via the recruiter, from the people I was told were making the hiring decisions. The week passed without a decision, and then the next week I was asked if I would be willing to come in for a THIRD interview to meet with some managers from other departments. I reluctantly agreed- after all, what's one more day when it had been 28 already- but I was never given a logical explanation for why they felt the need to interview me once again. The explanation I received was limited to something about culture, organizational fit, or similar such platitudes. Interview #3 was largely a rehash of what had already been discussed with other NeuStar audiences, which increased the head-scratching quotient substantially.
A couple days after that interview, I received an email from the recruiter indicating that I was not the best "fit" for the position due to a lack of work experience in some required technologies. The frustrating aspect of that decision is that my experiences were evident from my resume. It's unclear to me why NeuStar would interview someone multiple times and then turn around and render a decision based almost entirely on the resume
All told, it was 31 days from the time the recruiter first contacted me to the time I was informed I did not get the position.
Everyone I met seemed nice; a few were even personable.
The entire process struck me as disorganized, overlong, and made up on the fly.