Black Hills IP interview questions

Very lengthy process with a bizarre result. The first red flag was after the initial application was submitted. After a few days I received an email saying application rejected, salary too high. Usually a place would reach out and discuss what their range is and see if the applicant is still interested. After thinking about it for a week or so, I reached back out to them to say I would consider less salary for the position. They responded back right away with a suggested salary and that started the lengthy process. First they set up a phone interview with one of the managers. That seemed to go well and it moved me on to the next step. A few days later, they contact me to set up a phone interview with someone higher in rank. During that interview I gave a suggestion that she said she was writing down to present at the next management meeting. That interview also went well and I moved on to the next step. A couple days after that they called to set up a trip to fly me to Minneapolis for testing and additional interviews. They arranged flight, ground transportation, and hotel. The day of the interview, they start off with a "2-hour" test that really should only take an hour to someone that has experience in IP docketing. After that was lunch with 7 of the team, mostly managers of different departments. After lunch was a one-on-one with the president of the company. I was surprised that she asked a lot of the same generic questions that were covered in the first two interviews. It was as if she was just handed my information 2 minutes before meeting with me. I still felt as though the interview went well. When a staff member was walking me out afterwards, he said they would be making their decision Friday and he would call me either way (this was on a Monday). I asked if that was because there were other interviews being conducted. He stated that there were a pool of candidates and from that they would be choosing two. He also said I was a top candidate. On Tuesday, I followed up with an email to the president, which went unacknowledged. On Wednesday I received an alert from a job site that the job posting had been posted again. At that point I was starting to have my doubts. Thursday evening I had multiple missed calls and a voice mail from them. Upon checking my voice mail and returning their call, I was informed that they wanted to add another interview in and have me talk with someone currently in the role I was going for. We set that up for the next day and I asked if they would still be making a decision that Friday. He said yes and that he would call me immediately after. The 4th interview went awesome, she basically just told me how it was and what to expect. The lady was very nice and said it sounded like I would be a great addition and she was welcoming me to the team. The whole rest of the day I waited to hear back regarding their decision. It was not until 5PM that they sent an email saying my application was rejected. I tried calling them immediately but they did not answer. I also responded to the email and told them I was floored and would appreciate some feedback. That was now several weeks ago and I never heard another word. To say I was shocked and let down is an understatement. I was really looking forward to working with the team I had met. I know I could have been an important asset to the team. It was also very surprising that they never reached out to any of my references. They seem to lack an efficient interview process. They could save both their time and a candidates time by involving more people in the initial phase. The president of a company should be able to trust other management and not have to waste their time asking the screening questions that had already been asked and answered. Looking back at the two times I had to leave work early for phone interviews, and the day off I had to take for the in-person, only to receive nothing more than a couple word rejection, I would not recommend anyone else go through this process. I also wonder what the purpose of the last interview was. Can several higher-ranking members of a company not make a decision without the input of mid-level employee? Why have a candidate go through that step when the job was already re-posted on the job boards?

Prior to the interview, I underwent some online skill assessments, such as attention to detail and typing speed. Then there was a phone interview with the president of the company and human resources. Interview questions were read from a script. Lasted about an hour. There were many situational questions. Some were out-of-the-box, such as asking me for my weaknesses and not my strengths. I was called about a week later for an in-person interview which was a more informal meeting where I met some of the people I would be working with.