Post: Learning from Failure

Following up on my previous post about when is it time change jobs/careers/employers, this one is about the ups and downs of job hunting.

So when you apply, interview, and think you are in, and then you are not … how does that make you feel?

I ended up interviewing at a small startup, which I will not name, for a position that I thought was perfect for me. It was a mix of sales engineer, software development (actually participating on the development of the primary product), customer success, and anything else that one does at a < 100 employee startup. I have to admit, I was ridiculously excited, it felt like the perfect job for me. It was exactly what I wanted, the people were great, the product was awesome, and honestly, I could not see any downside.

But like all things in life, the universe, god, nature, whatever you want to call it, had other plans. I messed up my coding test, and the very next day I heard they were going with someone else. And like modern hiring, they never tell you anything that is actually helpful. Like, you were in competition with someone else, they did better on the coding exam and for us would have been easier to spin up quickly. Or something like that, please, just tell me what I could do to improve my chances elsewhere. I get it, they can’t share much due to legal reasons, but it’s shitty none-the-less.

Honestly, I was seriously bummed, I thought this was my dream job, I was ready to tell my current employer I am out, and start working my ass off, but it wasn’t meant to be. And like a good friend of mine said, “It’s there loss” and “you probably dodged a bullet”. Yeah, maybe, but that doesn’t help, I feel like shit.

Fast forward to today, and every position that I thought I was in, has fizzled out. Of course, I get 0 feedback to understand what I did wrong, or right, or why I was not offered the position. I understand that they are not allowed to tell me why, but that is not helpful at all when you are not clear why you were not offered the job.

There is a single one open right now, and I feel good about it. From what I have seen/heard from the stakeholders I have spoken to, I am a great fit for the position. So, holding out hope that I am meant to leave my current position and employer. But, as I have seen in the past, perhaps I am supposed to stay where I am, for now.

So, there you go, the morale of the story is, keep plugging away, you will end up where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there, and not until it’s the right place and the right time. And, oh by the way, you don’t know where and when. You just need to have faith, in whatever you have faith in, and hold on.