I applied for an opening within a branch of the US military. It's the kind of position where you have to secure the position before you enlist in order to get it, which you did by submitting your resume, a portfolio demonstrating your ability in this particular field, etc. It matched by qualifications and interests to a T, and the prospect of having my student loans forgiven, the various other military benefits, and the fact that it was permanently stationed in the States gave me a lot of hope. The only problem was that the application deadline was within only a couple of weeks of the posting being opened, and I was busy with school projects at the time.

I stayed up for several days putting together a strong portfolio that was really diverse and showed off all of the skills that the position asked for. I managed to fulfill all of the requirements and even went to the Writing Center at my school abd some friends who had been in the military to look over my application materials, and they said it was all very well-done.

No longer than a week after the deadline, I was informed that they'd selected their candidate, and it was somebody else. Apparently, according to someone on the inside who asked about it for me, they knew who they wanted to have the job before they even posted it (they were legally obligated to post the opening as available anyway). The application process was a formality for that person.