She lost her job in July and spent three months in the place many candidates know — ruled out after three to five interviews, filling out application after application, her mood sinking a little further each week.
At the end of August she applied, almost at random, to a role she had some experience in. The pay was good, but the qualifications were so niche she felt she did not meet the bare minimum. She applied anyway — what was there to lose but another rejection, or, more likely, nothing at all.
Early September: a phone call, a real person, an in-person interview. It ran ninety minutes. The next week, a second round with the CEO and the leadership team — two hours, intense, a grilling on public speaking and a long run of hypotheticals from the CEO. Then a call to say they had gone with a candidate with more experience.
An hour later, another call. They wanted to talk to her about a different management role — the catch being that it paid $25,000 less. She went, because she needed an income. It turned into a third interview she had not been told to expect — another ninety minutes.
The next morning, a call: they wanted her for the role she had originally applied for. The one they had said was filled. She asked whether it was a mistake. It was not. The CEO wanted her for the original role all along — at the original salary, starting in two weeks.