I applied for this position without a referral. After a while a recruiter emailed me, stating the hiring manager has personally reviewed my resume and they would like to proceed. My phone interview with the hiring manager in mid-December went very smoothly and positively. He told me he is happy to continue the interview process with me and I should be waiting for the recruiter to schedule it no later than the first week of January. Expectedly, the recruiter emailed me and asked for my availability in the first week of January. I was then ghosted for 3 weeks until the end of January when the recruiter finally decided to respond to my fourth reminder. She said they are deciding on the format and setting of the interview. After two weeks I asked for an update and she responded the team has decided to pause hiring on this position.