I suspect this happens a lot. A place I worked at would post a job and interview candidates for a job that had already been promised to someone. They did it so that they would followed a company policy that required such actions before a job position could be filled. The policy was there so that the best candidate was always hired but humans being humans sometimes the best candidate for a position was a friend irrigarless of skills.

I suspect many people here have seen or been part of the same situation.