After an initial screen by the recruiter, I met with the hiring manager and a peer; 2nd interview with the hiring mgr's boss, another hiring mgr peer, and a 3rd person in a the same role I was interviewing for; the 4th session (a presentation I gave in response to a case study) was with the hiring mgr, hiring mgr's boss and two others.
The process was never laid out for me; it seemed to unfold by fits & starts. It was also never made clear what competencies in particular they were looking for. Moreover, no one told me I was in a bake-off--comparing me with two other candidates at the same time.
I invested significant time and energy in preparing and rehearsing the presentation for the 4th interview. I was told afterward I had 'brilliant' insights. Then, nothing. Crickets. I finally chased down the recruiter a few days later to find out I was waiting another 2 weeks for them to meet with the other candidates.
After all that, I got a boilerplate email early on a Monday morning, even though both the hiring mgr and the hiring mgr's boss are in time zones West of me. I had been told I would hear something the Friday before. Instead, I had to wait a weekend to get the standard issue email.
Pretty pathetic candidate experience. And this from a PEO peddling its portfolio of HR services.