He met the essential criteria and had more relevant experience than the role required — he had done the same work at a slightly higher grade. The other candidate, as far as he could tell, had no direct experience in the role. But the other candidate had a relative at the company, and people there already seemed to know them.
On the office tour, he watched the other candidate laughing with the interviewer.
The feedback, delivered by phone, was that he had not got the job: the other candidate had interviewed slightly better. He declined the offer of further feedback. It felt like a charade. He withdrew his application and felt awful the next day.
He was careful in the post not to claim the relative decided anything. But the process had left him wondering whether it had, and whether he should have walked away the moment he saw the conflict of interest.