I had been networking with the hiring manager for a few months. I let her know that I was starting an active search. About 1 month later she contacted me and put me in touch with her tech lead. We had a good lunch meeting and connected well.
An internal applicant applied for the job and the Tech lead did a good job to follow up and let me know the status.
It was a very positive experience. I would recommend this company and am still interested in working there.