I didn’t actually do this, but I was heavily involved:

I responded to an ad on a job site for a differently-abled corporate manager, I’ll call him Mr. Manager, who was looking for assistance. I submitted my resume, and did a phone interview. After talking briefly, he invited me to interview at his house.

The interview was all the way across town (though the company I’d report to was 10 minutes from where I lived). When I got to his home, I had to fill out a form that was at least 5 pages and then was interviewed by both him and his wife separately. I was there for a couple of hours.

The whole thing seemed a little unorthodox, but I was applying to be his personal assistant and nothing was too off putting. After some discussion, I came to find out that this manager just so happened to work at the same company as my boyfriend. I mentioned this, and on both sides it seemed like they had a friendly acquaintance with each other, though they both worked in separate buildings.

The manager said that they would get back to me either way in a week; after all, they had to submit the background check. I really liked both Mr. Manager and Mrs. Manager. I was cautiously optimistic.

I sent a thank you card. No response, but I didn’t expect one. One week later, I sent a follow up e-mail. No response. Two weeks later, no response. The least you can do is let someone know they didn’t get a position if they took the time to speak with you. I was a little disappointed, but I moved on and found another position (like you do).

About a year later, a higher-level management position opens up in my new husband’s company. My husband was chosen to interview candidates for the position, and it just so happened that Mr. Manager was up for it. My husband had the resumes dropped on his desk at the last minute, so both men were surprised to see each other in this context. They exchanged pleasantries:

Mr. Manager: “So, um, how’s your girlfriend doing?”

Husband: (flashes his ring finger) “My wife is doing very well. She’s been working with special needs high school students for the past year and has been pretty happy.”

Mr. Manager: “I was going to call her back…” trails off…

My husband said he was cordial for the remainder of the interview, but his interviewee was not able to re-gain his composure.

The best part is that my husband’s boss decided to hire somebody within the team instead of anyone my husband interviewed, so my husband didn’t even deny Mr. Manager the job, but as far as he knows he completely bombed that interview and didn’t get the position.