Receiving more honest feedback

When I was writing my blog posting at this time on Monday, I originally wanted to write about something that happened that morning that really upset me. But other things intervened and I ended up writing about something else instead.

 

About three weeks ago I got a call from a headhunter about a position that sounded almost too good to be true. A Raleigh newspaper has an interactive division that manages the internet tools used by the more than 30 newspapers owned by its parent company. The product manager position is local and involves working with newspaper editors and others in the newsroom. I had the interview on Friday where I met with the manager, a director, and another product manager. I thought the interview went really well. The research I had done on product management really paid off. I asked questions to show that I had done thinking into some of the duties and challenges that this particular position entails.  At the end of the interview, the manager gave me her office number, which is always a good sign, and asked me to call with any questions.

 

I got the call on Monday. The headhunter said the manager felt I am not a good personality fit because I came across as “too eager.” He went on to say that my “energy level may rub some people the wrong way.” The rest of the phone call consisted with him telling me of ways I can utilize that information to make me a better interviewer. He suggested that I should speak to every interviewer in his own “language” by first assessing the individual’s personality and speaking to him at his own level. He said I don’t want to come across as “too aggressive” or “hard to manage.”

 

When the phone call ended, I was so shocked you could have knocked me over with a feather. As the next couple of minutes rolled by, the shock was replaced by anger. I did absolutely everything I have been told that I should do on interviews and at this company it was held against me. The job description asks for someone to “act as a leader within the company” and I tried to give the interviewers exactly what they wanted. The ultimate irony is that my former co-workers and classmates have never accused me of being “too aggressive” before. I guess maybe I was so excited about the position that I came across as intense and the interviewer had this image of  hiring the equivalent to a “bull with an MBA degree running around in a China shop.”

 

The only consolation I have is that God still remains faithful and if He didn’t want me to work at that newspaper company, there’s got to be another place He wants to work at right? Right?