Initial phone screen, and then spoke with hiring manager; next round was a panel and then a final interview however I only made it to the conversation with the hiring manager

Screening followed by 4 virtual interviews including role related knowledge, working with others and technical. Happened over 2 days and recruiter explained process well and shared helpful brief. Recruiter engagement better than other tech companies I've interviewed for. Overall good experience

I was contacted on LinkedIn by a recruiter representing Meta and informed that a maternity leave contract had become available and "was I interested?" After an initial intro call from the recruiter following my reply to the InMail (and the subsequent passing on CV formalities) a first zoom was scheduled with an employee that held the same title as the one I was given in the JD My recruiter advised me that he had put 3 candidates forward and I was the frontrunner from his group. This turned out to be true as following round 1, I was the only candidate that had made it through to a round 2 invite. My second interview was scheduled with again another staff member who holds the same title as the one in the JD I was sent. I felt it again went really well - nice people to talk to and open up and discuss ideas with. I managed to ask a couple of times "Have I sufficiently covered what you're after or would you like me to expand in a different direction?" I was consistently met with "Don't worry if we needed more from you we would definitely ask.." (it was an it's all good kind of vibe and very friendly and relaxed) I also need to add that the "Maternity contract" that I was initially informed I would potentially filling did appear to be somewhat of a blanket covering all basis tactic as the JD became rather flexible once I was in the interview sessions and those that interviewed me appeared eager to see where I could also be a good fit. It was certainly implied that this may not have been a particular role they were looking to fill but a way (from what I could initially gather from the sentiment) for the company to hire as more of a MO in how they handle the HR process. (My experience also does match up to some other of the candidates that have posted to youtube about the way that Meta hiring works). I waited roughly two weeks post the second interview and was thinking "no news is good news" given I presumed that in either case a hard no would be given early and that I was prepared to put up with a delayed "yes" with an offer given the longer the time to get back to me would increase the chances that I would be successful. Unfortunately it wasn't until I made a follow up call yesterday (roughly 2 weeks after round 2) that I was informed that it didn't look like it was going to go ahead but the recruiter advised he would check and get back to me. This morning I received a polite but short email that they had chosen another candidate. Overall the interview process was a good one however the lack of feedback following a fairly significant amount of time investment was certainly a deflating moment. Had I not have chased up on the update, I don't think I would have been notified which is not what a candidate should have to expect from a global company that is the size of Meta and one of the largest and most influential companies in the world. I would advise others interviewing to proceed with caution - even if you're headhunted it does not mean that they are necessarily that interested. It's flattering to get the initial InMail from them however it is not a signal that it's a likely thing.