last 2 companies I have worked for work that way. 3 weeks of internal candidates, then go out and look for candidates if nobody in the company is selected.Some companies have weird rules where if a job isn't filled internally in a certain amount of time then they have to post it outside the company. They will just post the job then continue their search internally. You will literally see the same job posted over and over and over on monster.com but they have no intention of hiring someone from outside the company.
Its bullshyt, just strengthens my position that its all connections at the end of the day. Someone with a straight 4.0, IQ of 160 does not even have an opportunity with the company if someone internally jumps on it