I suspect that has happened to me recently as well. Networking with others is a way to bypass that hurdle they set up. My current employment was offered to me by a previous customer at my last job, and I randomly saw him after months of looking and asked about it. I had applied for hundreds of jobs, many low entry hard labor to no avail.
I wouldn't be surprised however if they are around you more than you suspect, at the least monitoring your electronics.
Oh, I have evidence that They are monitoring My keystrokes. LOL! I had done a search for My name - something that, back in the day, would return about 1/2 the original first page with links to My recent work, along with data on Amaterasu, the Shinto Goddess of the sun... But when I did that search a few years ago... Nothing. Not a single return.
So I wrote up an article about that, and I don't know what prompted Me to check again, but I did, and LO! one link to an obscure article was there on the first page. And eventually My (now unused because I can't make videos anymore) YouToilet account was in the mix.
Point is, because I typed up that article - and had not posted it or anything - and the search results changed to kinda include Me, I must conclude that They watch what I type. UnEthical scum robbing Me of My privacy. Beneath the beasts! I surely do not consent to that!
I spent a decade trying to find work, and gave up a decade ago. Too old and disabled now to do anything fast enough to have anyOne want to pay Me for the work. LOL!