Most annoying thing that happened since moving here was I applied for a job I was perfect for. Had a phone interview and all went well.

Called for in person interview - which consisted of 4 back to back 45 min interviews - so I was in there for 3 hours.

Told at the end I would here back in a week. I am thinking I nailed the interviews but then nothing at all. I chased by emailing and calling HR after a few weeks and no response or answer. Found hiring managers details and the same with them. Would never answer calls or emails.

Then after about 4 months I got an email saying my application had been unsuccessful.

Can only assume they had a few specific issues and they saw me as a free consultant for a few hours.

H Bomb, yes, I know that problem as well.

So, the company's recruiter got back to me:
She talked to the hiring manager and he is very interested in me, but has a couple of scheduled interviews left and thus wants to wait how they pan out. She made a point in emphasizing that he is very interested in having me on his team, but obviously that doesn't mean much right now, depending on how the other interviews go.
She said to give them 1 1/2 weeks and she will get in contact and let me know what's happening.

So the waiting game continues, but at least with a little more info!

We typically aim for a 4 week turnaround. I.e. initial contact to person in seat within 4 weeks. I think that it also depends on location and industry. The software/tech market is hot in NYC and SF, candidates tend to have multiple offers and it helps if you can move quickly as an employer.

Hope you've dropped the hiring manager a nice handwritten note thanking him for considering you for the position and saying what a pleasure it would be to work for the company! Even in the electronic age, little things like that help you to stand out.

Actually, I didn't. I only got the above message yesterday, so it's not too late for anything.

I understand that it helps me to stick out, but in a good way? In my opinion, if I was a hiring manager, I would feel partial to a candidate doing that. It's nice, but a little over the top and (in my mind) desperate. No?

I see it as detail oriented and courteous. Others may differ!

We had a couple of people do that for one position that was open and the team thought the letters weird and the people seemed too desperate.
We would probably spend good 4 to 5 hours interviewing someone and they would be interviewed by several members of the team then we would each write up a summary and meet to decide who to hire. I found this method worked better than just having a manager hire the person.

To be honest, for me, receiving physical mail at work is just a nuisance and it happens so rarely that I might not notice it for weeks unless it was something that the mailroom had decided was sufficiently important that they had sent me a notification (by email of course) that there was something waiting for me.

I think that's true in many offices these days. Also most people have a lot of correspondence to go through in daily life, especially emails.

Anytime I have tried to followup after an interview, the manager/HR person sounded more annoyed then anything, and it's never landed a job doing it.

Every job I have gotten, I never followed up, every job I followed up on I didn't get, so I stopped following up as it appears to annoy more then assist.

But I am not applying for or working in high paying professional jobs like most on here seem to do.

Wife recently got offered an RN job just a couple of days after the interview, and could have started at the next orientation which was twice a month. At the time she applied to a few other hospitals. Some had closing dates where all successful applicants would have to wait until that date to know; one offered a month after an interview but had no closing date.

Length of a piece of string.

References can delay things but this time and last, they said they would get them even after offering the job, and presumably cancel the offer if they were really bad or just fake. But I suspect they have a good idea based on current/previous employment.

Went for in person interview yesterday, heard back today. So one day.

Depends on the company/industry as others have said....

The interviews I've had so far tend to happen about a month after initial application, then things move fast or go radio silent.

One company, that i'll leave nameless I applied to in March of last year.... and forgot about. I got a request for a phone interview a few days ago. WTF?!

I will email a company even if you don't get the role (especially management roles), thank them for their time, enjoyed meeting them, if any other roles come available please consider me etc.
I am currently in talks with a company who I interviewed with, met the CEO at lunch etc etc over a year ago about a new role they are creating. Do I think my email helped? I like to think so.

I agree. Anyone sending physical mail would stand out .... as slightly weird.
I agree/ am not surprised to hear that is your experience .....

I sometimes get email from people following up on positions they have interviewed for, but (i ) I usually ignore them, and (ii) it is invariably the weaker candidates who contact me. I once received a phone call from a(n internal) candidate following up. That was awkard!