I recently applied for a position that I thought would be a great fit.  I went through a few individual interviews and then proceeded on to a panel interview.  The entire process I thought went very well and it was the first time I really got excited about a new job in a long time.  Nothing caught me off guard or caused me any concern form both a personality or technical perspective.  I was really pumped and waiting to hear back from recruiter.  A few days later I received the classic rejection letter about moving forward with anthor candidate that was a fit.  I was totally blown out of the water.  Personally that probably sounds familiar to a lot of people and I have been passed over for roles before but in this case I really wanted this job.  And for the first time I was going to respond to the email and asked the recruiter for any insight on why I wasn't choosen, professed how much I wanted the role and why I would be a good fit.  That email was sent about 20 minutes after I received the rejection.Within 15 minutes I receive a call from the recruiter telling me that they would like to offer me the position. I was like "What"...  Again I'm in total shock....  He jumped right away into the offer details that I would be recieving and never once mentioned what had just transpired.  So once he was done I had to ask why did you send me that rejection letter?  Was it a mistake?  He said no.  "It was a test to see how much you wanted the role".I've never heard of this tactic before and my emotions were all over the board during the call so I left at that. I haven't switch jobs in a few years so this is all new to me.  Is this now a common practice?  In hindsight I'm so glad I went back and asked the why question.   Had I not and just blew it off it would have been a huge opportunity loss.