Several rounds of interviews. For the second or third visit, they had me prepare for and perform a full mock client presentation of their product. The final round was a conversation with the CEO - who was sort of cold, or uptight and didn't seem like a person who would be easy to connect with (which was in contrast to the other people I met with). Overall, I had several very long and mostly pleasant conversations with these people about their business, staying late at their offices, talking strategy and participating in discussions about how they might grow their small startup business. I was sure that I was going to be hired. However, not only did I not get an offer (which is fine), they never even told me that I didn't get the job (which is not fine). I reached out & was surprised to discover that I did NOT get the job, so I asked nicely, "Hey, so what happened? I don't get it." But I was not provided with much of a reason. It was as if they almost didn't know who I was. A friend suggested to me (call me naive) that they may have decided to hire someone else (perhaps more cheaply), but continued discussions with me because our talks about strategy were helpful to them - as if I was an outside business consultant. Of course, I can't say that for certain, but the experience was just very strange. It bothers me that they had me do that presentation of their product, which took way too much prep time and was, in my opinion, an unreasonable use of my time, considering my seniority level.
