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I was rejected because I told my interviewer I never make mistakes
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I was rejected because I told my interviewer I never make mistakes

Originally posted to Ask A Manager

Thanks to u/Lynavi for suggesting this BoRU

Original PostĀ  Feb 13, 2024

I was rejected from a role for not answering an interview question.

I had all the skills they asked for, and the recruiter and hiring manager loved me.

I had a final round of interviews ā€” a peer on the hiring team, a peer from another team that I would work closely with, the director of both teams (so my would-be grandboss, which I thought was weird), and then finally a technical test with the hiring manager I had already spoken to.

(I donā€™t know if it matters but Iā€™m male and everyone I interviewed with was female.)

The interviews went great, except the grandboss. I asked why she was interviewing me since it was a technical position and she was clearly some kind of middle manager. She told me she had a technical background (although she had been in management 10 years so itā€™s not like her experience was even relevant), but that she was interviewing for things like communication, ability to prioritize, and soft skills. I still thought it was weird to interview with my bossā€™s boss.

She asked pretty standard (and boring) questions, which I aced. But then she asked me to tell her about the biggest mistake Iā€™ve made in my career and how I handled it. I told her Iā€™m a professional and I donā€™t make mistakes, and she argued with me! She said everyone makes mistakes, but what matters is how you handle them and prevent the same mistake from happening in the future. I told her maybe she made mistakes as a developer but since I actually went to school for it, I didnā€™t have that problem. She seemed fine with it and we moved on with the interview.

A couple days later, the recruiter emailed me to say they had decided to go with someone else. I asked for feedback on why I wasnā€™t chosen and she said there were other candidates who were stronger.

I wrote back and asked if the grandboss had been the reason I didnā€™t get the job, and she just told me again that the hiring panel made the decision to hire someone else.

I looked the grandboss up on LinkedIn after the rejection and she was a developer at two industry leaders and then an executive at a third. She was also connected to a number of well-known C-level people in our city and industry. Iā€™m thinking of mailing her on LinkedIn to explain why her question was wrong and asking if sheā€™ll consider me for future positions at her company but my wife says itā€™s a bad idea.

What do you think about me mailing her to try to explain?

UpdateĀ  June 12, 2024

Thank you for answering my question.

I read some of the comments, but donā€™t think people really understood my point of view. Iā€™m very methodical and analytic, which is why I said I donā€™t make mistakes. Itā€™s just not normal to me for people to think making mistakes is okay.

I did follow your advice to not mail the grandboss on LinkedIn, until I discovered she seems to have gotten me blackballed in our field. Despite numerous resume submissions and excellent phone screens, I have been unable to secure employment. I know my resume and cover letter are great (Iā€™ve followed your advice) and during the phone screens, the interviewer always really likes me, so itā€™s obvious sheā€™s told all her friends about me and Iā€™m being blackballed.

I did email her on LinkedIn after I realized what sheā€™d done, and while she was polite in her response, she refused to admit sheā€™s told everyone my name. She suggested that itā€™s just a ā€œtough job marketā€ and there are a lot of really qualified developers looking for jobs (she mentioned that layoffs at places like Twitter and Facebook), but it just seems too much of a coincidence that as soon as she refused to hire me, no one else wanted to hire me either.

I also messaged the hiring manager on LinkedIn to ask her to tell her boss to stop talking about me, but I didnā€™t receive a response.

Iā€™m considering mailing some of her connections on LinkedIn to find out what sheā€™s saying about me, but I donā€™t know if it would do any good.

Iā€™m very frustrated by this whole thing ā€” I understand that she didnā€™t like me, but I donā€™t think itā€™s fair to get me blackballed everywhere.

Iā€™ve been talking to my wife about going back to school for my masters instead of working, but sheā€™s worried it will be a waste of money and wonā€™t make me any more employable. Iā€™ve explained that having a masters is desirable in technology and will make me a more attractive candidate, but sheā€™s not convinced. If you have any advice on how to explain to her why itā€™s a good idea, I would be grateful.

THIS IS A REPOST SUB - I AM NOT THE OOP

DO NOT CONTACT THE OOP's OR COMMENT ON LINKED POSTS, REMEMBER - RULE 7

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"I don't make mistakes" he said, actively making a mistake.

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