I recently made it to the panel interview for a position I've been pursuing, and it's been a week since then without any updates. I've been out of work since last November and have gone through several interviews, but this was the first time I reached the final round. I'm starting to feel anxious because I keep hearing that preferred candidates usually get feedback within 1-5 business days, and that hasn't happened for me. The interview experience itself was quite confusing. I was told a week prior that I would start with a presentation, but on the day of the interview, I was bombarded with questions before I even had the chance to present. It felt rushed, and only one person on the panel was asking questions, which made it difficult to gauge how well I was doing. This interviewer was particularly overbearing, constantly interrupting me and even turning to chat with someone else while I was talking, which left me feeling like they weren't really paying attention. Despite this, I did notice that another panel member, who I suspect might be the hiring manager, seemed to be engaged and interested in my responses. I'm holding onto a bit of hope that this person could potentially advocate for me, even if the more senior manager was not impressed. I'm just trying to navigate this waiting game and wondering if I should send a follow-up email to check in.