First round was an initial screening call with the head of HR. She then passed me through to the next round which was a 3-hour case study with two Associate VPs. If you succeed with the case study round, you'd be invited to a final round with an MD. I want to raise a red flag as a note of caution for future candidates applying to the Associate role. After completing the case study round, I received a phone call from HR indicating that they were planning to schedule me for the final round with the MD. I was also told that they intended to put me in contact with a current Associate at the firm for an informal chat, seriously signalling to me that I was progressing positively through the process. They told me they'd send me details for the final interview and put me in touch with the Associate directly after the phone call. No follow up email was received on my end, so I followed up politely. HR then responded with a pretty rude and patronising email basically claiming that during the case study round I sounded nervous and mentioned how I didn't seem to enjoy facing challenges which are traits they would never consider for their Associates. Just FYI - none of that was true, as I specifically asked for feedback from both AVPs at the end of my case round and got extremely positive feedback from them. I finally sent back a rational email listing out my points challenging her, to which she has ignored. I will always respect an employer's right to reject candidates based on performance or fit. However, I was led on by HR to believing I would proceed to the final round, followed by feedback that conflicted with what I had been told during the case study round - big red flag. Would not recommend this firm if they're going to waste peoples' time, lying to them and then dismissing them with no rational argument.