After 7 interviews spanning 5 separate sessions over 2 months (the recruiter didn't seem to be in much of a rush, at one point I received no communication for 3 weeks), I have reached what was supposed to be the last stage of the process: reference check. I have provided the requested contact information and almost a week later I have received what looked like an automated rejection e-mail from a no-reply address. It baffles me that anyone would consider this an acceptable way of rejecting a candidate this late into the interview process. On top of that, as far as I know, no one reached out to any of the people I provided as my references, so why even ask?