TL;DR - Frustratingly long process with a disappointingly unprofessional ending.
I was contacted by a recruiter in early September and after hearing about the position, I was very interested. This would turn into a lengthy and frustrating six-month process with 17 (!) interviews, numerous emails, a lot of indecision, and one EPIC miscommunication.
All the people I met were fantastic. It felt like it would be a great fit. A few weeks or months go by and they determine the position would not be based in my home city but in their corporate HQ. I was open to relocation so that was fine. In fact, I was incredibly excited about it. They then put me in a three month holding pattern.
I had another interview with a new key hire/C-level exec around Thanksgiving and it was nothing but positive.
Fast forward to January when I received an email that said "We are ready to move forward with an offer. The hiring manager will discuss the details in a phone call."
When I spoke to the hiring manager, she basically started interviewing me all over. I reiterated my willingness to relocate with some caveats now since it'd been almost six months since the first contact with them. She asked if I'd like to talk to another senior level new hire. I said "only if it was critical to the hiring decision since I was under the impression this call was for making me an offer." She apologized and said she'd get moving on that right away.
The recruiter emailed apologizing for her miscommunication but said I was the top candidate and they'd have a decision by next week.
Next week, I follow up and she said I was "a" top candidate. At this point, I'm losing interest since the process seemed so unorganized but I still expected a personal response one way or the other.
I didn't hear anything else until today when I happened to find a form letter in my spam folder from their recruiting software dated last week saying they're going with other candidates.