Initially a recruiter had contacted me last year via LinkedIn but I was not looking to switch, so I asked them if I can contact them when the time is right. And early this year I contacted them again. They were happy with my profile and setup a phone screen. The process took about a week. I think the phone interview went well, the other person thought so too, but they had gone with another candidate who had more aligned and direct experience with what they are working on. I appreciate the recruiter's honesty in this case.

Recruiter contacted me and called to discuss role. Hour long technical phone screen with team manager was scheduled within a week. Half day in-person Interview loop another week later with 5 people, including engineering manager for culture fit portion. It was pretty standard. The team was great to talk to and made me feel very comfortable during the interview. The only weird part was after the offer (but before the formal offer letter was sent to me) I was invited back for what seemed like another interview, because the role had not been correctly described to me. This secondary interview was ultra-casual and didn't give me any new information about the role, besides telling me more about the product that they work on. The only (very, very major) negative with the process is that ultimately, the role I was given was not the role I interviewed and presumably hired for. Even after that secondary clarification interview. The title, of course, was the same and the work given was similar, but the actual areas of expertise were not what the position was supposed to be for, and unfortunately none of this is explicitly formalized in the offer or signing of a contract with this employer.