I was referred through a friend to their recruiter. The recruiter called me up and we talked about a couple openings my background might be a fit for. After settling on the Sr. Project Manager role, he said he would set up a meeting for me with the hiring manager. The recruiter didn't set the meeting up, but the hiring manager reached out to me to meet on a day off for a conversation. He was personable and we had a good chat about what he does, what I do, and what we're both looking for. At the end he said he was enthusiastic about the possibilities and that they'd be in touch because he wanted to move quickly to fill the role. A couple weeks went by and the recruiter contacted me again to set me up for a 1:1 with one of their current Sr. Project Managers at the office. The day of the meeting the recruiter called to reschedule, moving the meeting up from 4:00pm to 1:00. It was a bit of a hassle but I made it. The discussion with the Sr. Project Manager went reasonably well though I wouldn't call him a strong interviewer, more of an interrogator which made a conversation a little difficult. Again, I sent a thank you note through the recruiter and asked about next steps but got no response. Almost a month went by and I hadn't heard anything. When I followed up with the recruiter, he apologized and let me know they weren't moving forward with me as a candidate. I don't know if I was "off the books" since I came in through a referral and not the ATS or what but that's some ball droppage there.