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then why can't you get a job? You're obviously not conveying this in your telephone interview. I think showing a little humility might work in your favor the next time around.
it's tough out there for everyone. maybe there's something about your phone interviews that are making them drop your candidacy. or maybe other people are just doing better at that stage or have more impressive resumes. who knows. it's a lot more competitive now than it used to be.
if you ask them why, especially if you frame it the way you are here (acting like it's impossible for you to not be hired because you're obviously so much better than an applicant pool you know nothing about), you can count on never being considered there again. even if you ask nicely and in a humble way, they probably won't (or even can't) tell you anything useful.
also, sending a handwritten card congratulating them on their hire is kinda weird. i can see thanking them if you're called or e-mailed directly with the rejection. but a handwritten card? that's going a little far.
in any case, i think if you were actually blacklisted you wouldn't be getting phone interviews.
it's tough out there for everyone. maybe there's something about your phone interviews that are making them drop your candidacy. or maybe other people are just doing better at that stage or have more impressive resumes. who knows. it's a lot more competitive now than it used to be.
if you ask them why, especially if you frame it the way you are here (acting like it's impossible for you to not be hired because you're obviously so much better than an applicant pool you know nothing about), you can count on never being considered there again. even if you ask nicely and in a humble way, they probably won't (or even can't) tell you anything useful.
also, sending a handwritten card congratulating them on their hire is kinda weird. i can see thanking them if you're called or e-mailed directly with the rejection. but a handwritten card? that's going a little far.
in any case, i think if you were actually blacklisted you wouldn't be getting phone interviews.
LOL> That suggestion about the handwritten card came out of a book called "Knock em Dead" by Martin Yates. I always used to use this book when interviewing and got very good results from using it. The thinking is that anything handwritten is supposed to "stand out" from the crowd, whereas an e-mail most likely gets deleted before it's even read. I'd like to call the SF HR guy first to ask if I might be considered for the OC position since it was something he asked me in the phone interview.
In addition, it didn't seem like the HR guy asked me very specific questions about situations or what I could bring to the table, etc. He only told me that it paid a salary, no commission with potential 6% bonus, not too much else and that he would pass the resume along. He really caught me by surprise because he called me the next day immedicately after I submitted the online resume, no time to really compose my response.
it's not so much the handwritten part that is weird - it's going out of your way to congratulate them on hiring someone else! when i get rejected, if i have the opportunity i'll tell them thanks for letting me know and please keep me in mind if anything else comes up (if i was very interested in the job), but "congratulations on the hire" just seems odd. i don't think it would hurt you or anything, it's just strange.
that does sound more like a very basic phone screening than a phone interview but who knows why you were rejected.
I once got hired for a job that had grown out of a job I'd had some 15 years prior. I was a good 20 years older than most of the department and the boy who interviewed me actually asked me, "Would you be comfortable here, being so much older than everyone?" I politely pointed out that he couldn't really ask me that but that I'd be fine. They then had to hire me (I think) and also I was the only person applying who had done some aspect of the job before.
I think they meant to can me all along, but during my three months' probation, I was oriented by the least talented people (and those very unable to teach); not told or taught things that I absolutely would have to know to progress; told they were moving me forward faster than usual because the work was needed; and inadvertently 'outed' the shift manager for leaving an hour early every night when I was asked why J hadn't helped me with a problem "because he had left to catch the last train."
On my 90-day, I was fired. It was very embarrassing and no one would give me a reason. Finally someone said I wasn't catching on to the technology fast enough. A friendly co-worker told me that they messed over a lot of people with no orientation or teaching and that it was a very vicious place to work. Also, the management there had said, "Well, she can always go back to her old job," which wasn't true- there was a hiring freeze when I left, and it took two years to get back to the old job. Two years of a doubly long commute to a crummy job, extra payment for health insurance at the long commute job, etc. It cost me big time in more than a few ways.
In sales, you really have to believe in what you do and that you can offer something better. Unless the quality of their hires has significantly improved over what they used to hire, I can honestly say that I could literally run circles around the competition. That is a FACT. In life, we are always told that we should pay our dues. I feel like I have those and then some. When do I get my chance?
When do you get your chance? When your better at SELLING yourself!
Give this company a miss and good luck with your search.
Many companies won't rehire someone once they have left the company.
Maybe the reason you got the phone interviews was for them to find out if you were bashing them. Also if the reason you left had to do with an HR issue I would look elsewhere.
I once got hired for a job that had grown out of a job I'd had some 15 years prior. I was a good 20 years older than most of the department and the boy who interviewed me actually asked me, "Would you be comfortable here, being so much older than everyone?" I politely pointed out that he couldn't really ask me that but that I'd be fine. They then had to hire me (I think) and also I was the only person applying who had done some aspect of the job before.
I think they meant to can me all along, but during my three months' probation, I was oriented by the least talented people (and those very unable to teach); not told or taught things that I absolutely would have to know to progress; told they were moving me forward faster than usual because the work was needed; and inadvertently 'outed' the shift manager for leaving an hour early every night when I was asked why J hadn't helped me with a problem "because he had left to catch the last train."
On my 90-day, I was fired. It was very embarrassing and no one would give me a reason. Finally someone said I wasn't catching on to the technology fast enough. A friendly co-worker told me that they messed over a lot of people with no orientation or teaching and that it was a very vicious place to work. Also, the management there had said, "Well, she can always go back to her old job," which wasn't true- there was a hiring freeze when I left, and it took two years to get back to the old job. Two years of a doubly long commute to a crummy job, extra payment for health insurance at the long commute job, etc. It cost me big time in more than a few ways.
That really stinks, I don't understand why people hire others to set them up for failure! It's ridiculous...
If you want to know if you're blackballed, have someone call up pretending to be from another company looking for a reference and ask if you would be eligible for re-hire.
It may look to the initial resume screeners like you are good fit and that's why you are getting an initial call. Then they go deeper and look at your actual personnel records and see these things and don't like them.
Nobody will ever tell you why. They don't want to get sued.
To learn what companies won't tell you, read Cynthia Shapiro's Corporate Confidential: 50 Secrets Your Company Doesn't Want You to Know---and What to Do About Them. A very eye-opening book.
If you're in sales, I would say just stop applying to this company and apply to others. There are plenty out there.
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When do you get your chance? When your better at SELLING yourself! 
