Until I received the rejection, I would have rated Akamai's candidate journey experience a 10/10. However, at some point, corporate tactics, including complete radio silence, minimum and purely reactive communication, (deliberately) missed deadlines, followed by vague responses, kicked in, which is sad, given the clear, prompt and transparent communication throughout the process, until after the final round. The latter passed without a single response for more than 2 weeks post-interview, which is when I reached out first. Upon receiving a response with a binding timeline, which was not honoured, I waited 2 more days and followed up yet again. A vague response followed, which, by then, manifested what seemed obvious anyhow, which is that I was definitely their first choice. Given the mentioned straightforward communication throughout the entire process, I would have expected Akamai to maintain this level of integrity. Sadly, and this is where the bitter taste results from, despite receiving insightful and useful feedback upon my request, Akamai, like most employers these days, applied the stalling pattern to keep me at bay until the desired candidate was closed. This is certainly not a pattern unique to Akamai, but ultimately what corporate recruitment, including not valuing or appreciating a candidate's time and effort, has come to.