Drum Roll Please: I Thought we Ought to pursue other candidates

*hugs* @Sarah – never ever ever ever give up 😀

@sarah that’s what we’re here for!

When interviewing it’s really important to gauge the person you’re talking to quickly and adjust your demeanor to theirs. You shouldn’t ever act contrary to your true personality, but if you’re talking to a laid back MD don’t treat him like a Drill Sergeant. The key is making your best guess as to the interviewer’s personality quickly, so you don’t appear to change your tone mid-interview, and having a reasonably consistent manner throughout all your interviews (no fat tails).

Also – I have worked at both large and small firms, including a large U.S. IB, and have found that culture often has nothing to do with a firm’s size. In fact, that large IB was more like a raging frathouse than anywhere else I’ve worked.

Finally – you’re absolutely right to not despair and take every rejection as a learning experience. We’re still in a bad job market (especially if you’re applying for VP-level positions) so the competition is stiff. Best of luck!

Wow, sorry to hear about your experience @Sarah. When you ‘inquired further’ was that with the recruiter or one of the interviewing managers? Based on the feedback you received, I’d say someone made their mind up about you very quickly. Since you interviewed with 4 different people, all it takes is one of them to have a personality conflict. You should also consider a scenario in which one of the managers had an agenda to try pushing ahead a different candidate and the best way to do that is to exaggerate or fabricate flaws in the other candidates.

Either way, you should put this behind you and keep moving on. I am a firm believer that good things eventually happen to hard-working, talented people, and reading your blog posts over the past 8 monts I would defintely put you in that category. You’ll land something that is a good fit and remember the next job you take doesnt have to be your last, so consider using the next position as a stepping stone to something more desireable. Good luck!

@sarah sorry to hear about your experience! Although HR in all companies like to represent the hiring process as a very ‘fair’ process etc, I still think it’s a bit like joining a small frat group – it really depends if you’re compatible with the team you’re joining.

I’ve gone through a few similar interviewing experiences as well, and my thinking is that if the team didn’t think I was compatible with them, it’s probably just as well – if I had to work with a team that didn’t like me much (and vice versa) that would be quite a painful job.