First interview is with HR for a typical first round screen. Very polite with quick follow-ups. Second round interview was with the Hiring Manager: He seemed nice but hinted right away that this would go to an internal candidate and that the external interviews were a formality. Was asked a couple of questions completely unrelated to the role. Hiring manager made it clear that seniority is the priority for promotions and upper level roles within the team. They do not hire externally for management level roles. 15-25+ year tenures of current staff. Current manager was retiring. Director has been there for >40 years, Associate Director over 20. Amazing benefits, amazing work life balance (~1:50 IT support to users which is practically unheard of, median is typically ~1:250) so there is little surprise that the team stays indefinitely. Even IT support is there for 15+ years. This is a great place to start as entry level when you are 23 and fresh out of college, but it is questionable why they post a role like this externally as it just wastes candidate's time and effort. One thing to note was that HR said the current manager was retiring in August. The hiring manager contradicted this and said they had already left - perhaps informal PTO until retirement?