I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Merck in May 2018
Interview
Overall a 3.5+ month process where ultimately, after 4 rounds of interviews, I was ghosted.
I applied in early May and was referred by an internal employee. I had a phone interview 10 days later. I was told the hiring manager was busy and traveling for a few weeks, and to follow up in a few weeks. So, 3 weeks later I followed up. Again, I followed up a week after that. 2 days later, I had an interview with the hiring manager, and a day later, had a 3rd round interview with another member of the team. I followed up a week later, an another week after that. I had a 4th round interview with another team member a week later. For this, I had a phone call at 6am Pacific Time, because the team member was in Prague and could only speak at that time. I was asked if I could schedule an in-person a few days later, however, I was traveling for work. After that, I was ghosted and heard nothing. I followed up a week later, and 2-3 weeks after that. After that I concluded I was ghosted and I never even received an automated rejection.