I have so much sympathy for anyone who has to work at a medium-to-large organization. The inhumanity of the hiring process is just numbing to me. We're a tiny little firm so our process is pretty straightforward - we headhunt people with posted resumes that look like a good fit, we call them up, and we get a vibe-check out of everyone in the office when they come by to interview. there's no "second interview" crap, it's all about "can we work with you and do we click." I was f'n done with sarariman bullshit in 2007 and everything I see tells me that was the goddamn golden age by comparison.
Yeah, I feel like a vibe-check has been key to any half-decent job I've had, and I just wasn't able to bring the vibe to this interview. I was run down and exhausted from recent illness, moving house and a hectic work schedule, and they felt it. It was for Melbourne's other very large university and despite the size of the organisation, the kind of area I work in is sufficiently small that everybody knows, or knows of, everybody else, so the rejection cuts a bit.