Hi there,

in your case, it sounds like the process was delayed because of a holiday and relevant decision makers being on leave - like the note says. 

Before interview decisions are communicated after each round, they have to usually be aligned between HR and the interviewers in the process. This can sometimes take time (often after final rounds as well) for various reasons. A few common ones are listed below for a general overview:

• internal scheduling conflicts between HR and the interviewers, especially when partners need to be involved
• the firm is still conducting more final round interviews with other candidates and they might want to wait for that to play out to look at the full candidate picture before extending final offers
• offers have been extended to “first choice” candidates and the firm is trying to keep “backup” candidates on hold until they know who accepted and who declined their first batch of offers
• holidays or year-end shutdown delay the decision-making and communication process
• there is uncertainty internally around budget and the exact headcount they can actually hire so they are trying to buy time

I know that this is unsettling and every candidate wants to have clarity on the status sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, you'll always have to wait for the official word. It is legitimate, though, to politely follow up for an update after not hearing back for two weeks. If you have a competing offer already, you should of course follow up before you run the risk of that expiring.

However, it is best to just assume a rejection and continue with the recruiting efforts with other firms until you have a written offer in your hands. That way you at least won't lose time.

Best of luck