I was referred through a friend's acquaintance, and was contacted for an interview almost immediately after sending her my application. The Senior Director of HR set up a time for me to come in and interview with the Creative Director within a couple days. I was 15 minutes late for my interview due to a really crazy subway delay, but was able to contact them while on my way and they were incredibly kind and understanding. The situation did not hang over the interview process at all. The interview was very enjoyable, with the Creative Director and Director of Client Services. It was obvious that they had worked together many years, and enjoyed eachother's company, as well as their workplace and other colleagues. The questions were interesting and relevant. I found out that I was the first person they had interviewed for this role, and warned that it may take a little time to hear from them because of that. I was contacted a couple weeks later by the Senior Director of HR to say that they had chosen to go with a candidate who had previously worked for them. This message was very thoughtfully written and kind. I feel like there are a lot of reasons why companies may choose to go with another candidate, but it is extremely rare for a business to bother to actually explain their decision, and I was really touched in this case.