All this stuff about interviewing for "appearance" to satisfy HR really blows my mind. How dare they waste people's time like that?
I was kind of irritated one time not to hear anything at all. I know this is the norm in some types of applications, in which you may be one of hundreds of applicants. But I was applying for something quite specialized in a very small office (think 5 people, no HR) and I can't imagine there would have been more than about 10 people interviewed. I kind of had a sense it was all over (something about her tone/body language) when she said, "OK, I have a few more people to interview next week and I will let you know." Fine, I sent my follow-up thank-you email and expressed my interest, to which she replied that she would "not know for at least a week." I wasn't really holding out much hope by then, but then she didn't even let me know at all. I thought that was rather rude of her; it's one thing when it's a large organization that has stated in advance that only selected candidates will be contacted, but a tiny office run by one woman, with only a few interviewees? Rude, I thought.