Last night, I shared part of the thinking I was going to use for a presentation today to a potential new team. I’ll cut to the chase: I didn’t get the gig. As we move through my post-Google life, I hope you don’t mind me doing some retrospective evaluations of how things went and what I could or should have done better. It may help any other job seekers. I know it will help me. So, let’s talk about today for a bit.
One thing that has become clear in just this first week of interviewing is that nobody has any idea about how long these positions will exist. That holds true for the people I’m talking to and for the roles I’m actually interviewing for. Above all else, there’s this unsettling sense of looming foreboding. Nobody wants to make any promises. People are placing caveats on everything. There’s no sense of knowing. And it’s compounding all the anxiety I already feel as I’m looking to help my next team.
When I am having trouble adequately articulating my emotions — which can happen often — I tend to go for similes or metaphors or analogies instead. In an effort to better describe what this week of conversations and interviewing has been like, let me try one on you now. Essentially, I feel unmoored. Like a small boat that’s seaworthy, but has seen some action in its day, coasting around looking for a safe place to tie up for a little while. There’s not a lot of urgency yet, because although the seas are rough, it’s nothing this sturdy vessel hasn’t seen before. Except that this time, it just feels different. The waves are the same heights as others which have been successfully navigated before, but there’s just something a touch more menacing in them tonight. Is it that the water’s warmer? Are we just further from shore? Or is the ship just ragged enough these days to ramp up the uncertainty of its survival. I have no idea. It could be one of these things. Maybe a combination of all of them? Or —gawdforbid — some other, unknown vexation just on the other side of the next wave. All I know is that, for now, the “any port in a storm” adage is making a lot of sense. But there’s even a problem with trying to find a port. And that has to do with using the right navigational charts. This is where we’re going to change the analogy considerably, so please forgive the sudden switch to dry land.
The conversations I’ve had with potential teams have been enlightening, but, ultimately, not fruitful. I’ve done my best, and prepped well, but I’ve come up short over and over so far. Now, that’s not to say I haven’t accomplished what I set out to do. In fact, it’s the opposite. A couple of times this week, I’ve presented well, made all the points I intended, and tightly tied my skills and accomplishments to the job description. But the teams still went with another candidate. It’s been hard to take, but I have to understand that maybe my best either 1) isn’t as good as I think it is, or 2) wasn’t better than another candidate who had more of what they were looking for. To return to the land of explanation, it feels like I got an invitation to an amazing party, which included the time, place, menu, and guest list, but forgot to include the fact that it was a costumed affair. There just seems to be a disconnect between what teams are saying they need and what they actually want after hearing from the available candidates. Again, it’s just been really hard to swallow. But I understand that’s how job searching goes. It just downright sucks. And I’m sorry for everyone having to go through this right now. Both the candidates and the teams looking for talent.
I know nothing is guaranteed. And I acknowledge the vast amounts of privilege we have for me to take my time and find just the right role. Not everyone has that luxury, and I am grateful and appreciative to have it. I can’t help but think there’s a better way, though. I just don’t have any suggestions for it right now. Mainly because after licking my wounds in this post tonight, tomorrow, sift through relevant new job postings, survey my network again, and write a handful more cover letters. Then, I head back out to sea to find a welcoming berth for this seasoned vessel.
Let Me Drown
17 February 2023
Nothing’s a shore thing.
Last night, I shared part of the thinking I was going to use for a presentation today to a potential new team. I’ll cut to the chase: I didn’t get the gig. As we move through my post-Google life, I hope you don’t mind me doing some retrospective evaluations of how things went and what I could or should have done better. It may help any other job seekers. I know it will help me. So, let’s talk about today for a bit.
One thing that has become clear in just this first week of interviewing is that nobody has any idea about how long these positions will exist. That holds true for the people I’m talking to and for the roles I’m actually interviewing for. Above all else, there’s this unsettling sense of looming foreboding. Nobody wants to make any promises. People are placing caveats on everything. There’s no sense of knowing. And it’s compounding all the anxiety I already feel as I’m looking to help my next team.
When I am having trouble adequately articulating my emotions — which can happen often — I tend to go for similes or metaphors or analogies instead. In an effort to better describe what this week of conversations and interviewing has been like, let me try one on you now. Essentially, I feel unmoored. Like a small boat that’s seaworthy, but has seen some action in its day, coasting around looking for a safe place to tie up for a little while. There’s not a lot of urgency yet, because although the seas are rough, it’s nothing this sturdy vessel hasn’t seen before. Except that this time, it just feels different. The waves are the same heights as others which have been successfully navigated before, but there’s just something a touch more menacing in them tonight. Is it that the water’s warmer? Are we just further from shore? Or is the ship just ragged enough these days to ramp up the uncertainty of its survival. I have no idea. It could be one of these things. Maybe a combination of all of them? Or —gawdforbid — some other, unknown vexation just on the other side of the next wave. All I know is that, for now, the “any port in a storm” adage is making a lot of sense. But there’s even a problem with trying to find a port. And that has to do with using the right navigational charts. This is where we’re going to change the analogy considerably, so please forgive the sudden switch to dry land.
The conversations I’ve had with potential teams have been enlightening, but, ultimately, not fruitful. I’ve done my best, and prepped well, but I’ve come up short over and over so far. Now, that’s not to say I haven’t accomplished what I set out to do. In fact, it’s the opposite. A couple of times this week, I’ve presented well, made all the points I intended, and tightly tied my skills and accomplishments to the job description. But the teams still went with another candidate. It’s been hard to take, but I have to understand that maybe my best either 1) isn’t as good as I think it is, or 2) wasn’t better than another candidate who had more of what they were looking for. To return to the land of explanation, it feels like I got an invitation to an amazing party, which included the time, place, menu, and guest list, but forgot to include the fact that it was a costumed affair. There just seems to be a disconnect between what teams are saying they need and what they actually want after hearing from the available candidates. Again, it’s just been really hard to swallow. But I understand that’s how job searching goes. It just downright sucks. And I’m sorry for everyone having to go through this right now. Both the candidates and the teams looking for talent.
I know nothing is guaranteed. And I acknowledge the vast amounts of privilege we have for me to take my time and find just the right role. Not everyone has that luxury, and I am grateful and appreciative to have it. I can’t help but think there’s a better way, though. I just don’t have any suggestions for it right now. Mainly because after licking my wounds in this post tonight, tomorrow, sift through relevant new job postings, survey my network again, and write a handful more cover letters. Then, I head back out to sea to find a welcoming berth for this seasoned vessel.
See you tomorrow?