So what's the big secret?

I am writing a small application in PHP, MySQL and Codeigniter to keep track of contacts in my job search. I thought what might help me most in my search would be information on the competion. Competition being the candidates for intervues and those hired for jobs I applied for myself. If you are in a place where competition is tight this information can be invaluable for you personally.

Now being American I did not think that getting this information would be a problem. But here in Sweden there seems to be some type of kultural block or fear about giving out the type of information for which I am asking. Contact via email and telephone has led to two hesitant no's and one abstract answer. The only straight answer I received was from a recruiter who told me flat out that their client decided to go with an internship with someone just out of highschool with no experience. This was good to know because it helps me filter my search a bit so that I do not apply for too many jobs for which I am over qualified. What I want to know is:

The geographic location of the candidates chosen for intervues. If the job is in Stockholm do all, part or none of the candidates live in the Stockholm area.

Did the person hired work for another company or were they out of work or going to school?

The age of the new hire or candidates.

The experience level of the new hire or candidates. Have they worked professionally 1-2 years , 5 or more years, 10 or more years.

To me none of the information I asked for is something that will harm, offend or obligate any company. It lets me know what importance certain criteria a company puts on work experience and other factors. After all they may have another position better suited for me. Granted this was a small sampling of the climate but it does look like businesses in Sweden are very suspicious when you start asking questions about their hiring practices.