The initial contact was made through the recruiter. Initial screening phone interview was also conducted by the placement firm. The company did not have a HR dept. at the time I interviewed. The remainder of the interview process was pretty usual. There were no unexpected questions. There were two separate interviews with the hiring manager as well as some of the senior staff of the department. second interview was with Senior staff members in Engineering, QA and follow on with the hiring manager. I did not find either of these interviews difficult. I had prepared well for the interview ahead of time.
The thing that stands out is that I had to come back for a third time to meet the CEO, was kept waiting for 90 min from the initial appointment time. There was no apparent concern from the CEO regarding my time. In hindsite, that should have been a bigger flag.