Very pleasant phone interviews and a day full of face-to-face interviews and presentations. The panels were engaged, the tour was great and everyone was formally courteous. However, it became apparent early on that the decision had already been made to hire an in-house candidate, and I was merely fulfilling an HR requirement. Three people in the interviews hinted at that, which was nice of them. One stated it outright, and that was appreciated. It still took weeks to get the official decision, though. I understand why companies bring in fake candidates, but what a waste of time and effort for everyone involved. They did buy my lunch - corndogs in the student dining hall.