Comment by throwaway984393

"After passing the loop ... have the hiring manager tell me they'd be calling me after a week"

That's when you know you're just the backup option. If you passed their hiring loop, and they like you, and they have actual budget + headcount, you're hired. They don't need to wait a week to call you back, and they know that; once they have confirmed good references, they should be sending you an offer immediately, not after an arbitrary amount of time.