Better. 1) Not really. Not where I work, not where I worked in the past. Maybe somewhere, but if we are talking about tech, rejections can be very quick. 2) In

Better. 1) Not really. Not where I work, not where I worked in the past. Maybe somewhere, but if we are talking about tech, rejections can be very quick. 2) In some companies they made a list and they then go down if the top option(s) do not accept, in others you are either the first or they re-do the search. It is company's/hiring manager culture/decision. 3) Very unlikely. Nobody likes to be chosen explicitly as second or third, as the hiring you also have to deal with someone who you did not want initially because you preferred the other(s) and as the candidate you accept to get into a problematic situation from the start. 4) Plenty of companies reject firmly and clearly with no legal follow-up whatsoever (or it they are very occasionally sued by some candidate, we all know it is part of the business). Being rude, ghosting people, waiting for other candidates to accept before rejecting is all bully behavior of who's very often in a position of power, that is the tech company.