> If there are 20 solid candidates for a single open position, many capable individuals will be rejected.

And yet, the role is still advertised 1.5 months after my rejection, which means they are still getting emails from new candidates applying for the role. Do you suppose they get so many competent candidates that they can't make a decision on whom to hire?

At this point we can only speculate about their intentions, because the intentions are definitely not transparent.