Why you didn't get the job after 100 rounds of interview, homework assignment and stool sample.

You did it! You got the phone screen with the HR person, boasting on how well your background looks and how much of a working fit you’d be for the company! SOLID!! The interview process would consist of a call with the hiring manager, a panel interview and a case-study presented to the VPs of the department and then finally a meet with the President of the company. ROCK ON!! ?

You put on professional, presentable clothing for your virtual call with the manager. The hiring manager joins 10 minutes late and is wearing a t-shirt and baseball cap and doesn’t apologize for the tardiness, instead asks you “Is now still a good time?”. You force the smile and say “No Problem”. The hiring manager is more interested in your personal life, “What was the last book you read?”, “What’s your favorite color,” “If you were an animal, what would you be and why?”. Nonetheless, you answer the questions to hopefully satisfy the hiring manager’s curiosity, who then goes on to tell you about the role itself needing to be filled yesterday after being open for 5 months. They also add in that the company went through a massive layoff ontop of having record turnover in the past year and they’re looking for a rockstar to join the family. This senior level role itself is a newly created one that will have 20+ stakeholders (cough “hands in the pot”), . The hiring manager absolutely adores you and wants to move you to the second round of panel interview in which you will present the aforementioned case-study to seven panelists of the company! EXCELLENT!! ??

Feeling the rush of excitement from making it this far, you map out one of the best presentations on the problem the company is facing right now. You spend a week and 20 hrs doing research, mapping out formulas, projecting future growth while adding in your anecdotal experience. You spend the next five hours practicing your deliver and anticipating questions the panelists may ask you! You’re ready to rock this out! WE’RE GONNA DO WORK!! ???

The day has come! You put on your Sunday best and ensure your lighting is hitting your face the right way and there are ZERO noise distractions in the background. The seven panelist join on schedule, followed by 3 more surprise guests who you’d potentially be working with! You’re not deterred though, with the surprise additions…not even SLIGHTLY agitated with the lack of communication. You begin your presentation to the 10 participants, 7 of which look as if they have zero interest in being on the call. As you go through, you’re consistently being interrupted by one of your potential coworkers who has a year of actual hands on experience, compared to your 10, stating that the approach is obviously incorrect and here’s how they would’ve done it. Another panelist, another junior member, adds that they need help understanding what is implied by an element of the plan, though having been covered in the past four slides in depth and no questions being asked. You explain. Though they are convinced they still don’t understand why you elected to approach it this way versus the way they’re thinking of. Push through the passive aggressiveness. PUSH PUSH PUSH!! You only get 3/4 through your presentation due to the constant interruptions even while attempting to get things back on track. 2 of the panelists have dropped off mid way through the call, while the others don’t have any questions. The hiring manager asks you to send the plan to them so they can further review. You gladly accept as they tell you they will be in touch with next steps. YOU CRUSHED THIS PRESENTATION! ????

Three weeks go by and you haven’t heard back from the recruiter even after reaching out a week after the presentation. You tell yourself they must just be busy. No worries. This is the dream job I’ve been waiting for. I can be patient for just a little longer. Meanwhile you do a bit more research of the company on Glassdoor and the company has a 2.5 star rating. You brush it off, convincing yourself that people only post on Glassdoor when they’re upset, even though you see a recurring theme of “zero work life balance,” “cliquey nightmare,” “toxic, inexperienced management” or something similar. But you find the silver lining! Over the past month and a half there have been nothing but 5 star reviews boasting about this being the greatest place to work and the culture and benefits are top notch! See! THIS JOB IS MINE!!! ?????

A month later, You finally see a response from the recruiter! Your anticipation is sky high! You open up the email and the recruiter profusely apologizes for the delay in response as they had a couple of fire drills over the past month they needed to extinguish. The recruiter goes on to tell you that while the 11 participants enjoyed meeting with you and seeing your presentation skills in action, they ultimately decided to go with a “more experienced candidate”. You ask for feedback. And vaguely told that your presentation was “too high level” as the team was looking for something more in depth. You thank the recruiter for the time. Deflated, not defeated, you hop back onto Linkedin and continue your search for the perfect opportunity. Coincidentally you see that the role you just got rejected for was reposted a week and a half ago on Linkedin and just added on Glassdoor/Indeed two days ago. IT’S ALL GOOD! IT’S REALLY ALL GOOD! I’LL JUST APPLY FOR THE ROLE AGAIN AND FIX MY MISTAKES!!????????????????????????????????????????????????

Two months later, after being gainfully employed, you receive a transactional email from the company. You open it up and notice that it looks eerily familiar to what you presented to the company. Beat for beat actually. Out of curiosity, you look up the company again on LinkedIn and see that they’ve moved from series A funding to Debt Financing and has been picked up by a new private equity firm. To your shock, the role which you applied for has been reposted a week ago….