This isn't rare. It doesn't mean you got sent to the minors. It may mean you are a better fit for another team, or that the team you started interviewing with

This isn't rare. It doesn't mean you got sent to the minors. It may mean you are a better fit for another team, or that the team you started interviewing with filled the position but didn't want to see a good candidate go away. I had this happen early in my career when I interviewed for a core developer role and they decided that I would be better as a development consultant. It was an ego hit at first, but I took the job because it sounded interesting. After being there for a while, I talked to the original team lead that I interviewed with and he said yea, I was weaker in a couple of areas but they wanted me still. However, the consulting director also needed a really solid dev that could actually talk to clients without having an allergic reaction. So he fought to get me on his team. So the irony is for 3-4 months I felt kinda like I got sent to the minors as you say, but in reality they were fighting for me in two groups. You never know. BTW -- this happens a lot because many companies will have 1 person, outside the team that is hiring, interview candidates and if they really like you they might pull for you on their side.