She was applying to be an executive assistant and personal assistant to a chief executive. She has a master’s degree and an HR certification. The first round was on site, with the CEO and a group of managers, and it went well enough to advance.
The second round was on video. Two people joined: the company’s HR director and a vice-president from another department. The VP showed her face — then spent the last half-hour of the interview on the phone because she was driving home. The HR director never turned her camera on at all. She asked sharp questions in a tone the candidate could only describe as snarky. The candidate looked her up later and noticed the HR director holds no HR certification; the candidate does.
The next day, she was invited back for a third conversation — just her and the CEO, at a coffee shop near the office. It went well. They talked salary and a possible start date, the CEO telling her again not to bother renewing her certification. The CEO said the offer would come the next day. They hugged goodbye.
The next day didn’t come. She sent follow-up emails. Eventually a reply: they had moved on to another candidate.
She has accepted it, she wrote. But she cannot get over the interview where the HR director, her face unseen, assessed her for a job she never got to do.