I was contacted by a recruiter, by phone, while I was unemployed. This gave me hope. The recruiter gauged my interest and skills then referred my resume to the hiring manager. The hiring manager was pessimistic but evaluated my skills and invited me in for a face to face interview. The f2f was grueling: I spoke with six people over four hours, was asked to take a software test, and generally put through the wringer. The people were interesting and friendly though. I didn't hear from them for several weeks. Then suddenly the recruiter called me with an offer, which I accepted without attempting to negotiate.