Interview update

So much for hitting it out of the park.

I got an email yesterday saying that the interviewer had been impressed with my skill set and my knowledge of relevant issues, but was unable to offer me a second interview.

I don't know what to make of that exactly, especially since I got a really good vibe from him on the phone and I felt the interview went well. I asked him if he could give me some feedback as to why I was not selected for the second round of the process, so that I could improve my interview skills for future job opportunities, but haven't heard back from him. I doubt I will.

It would be really helpful for me to know if there was something I did or didn't do that affected his decision, because what he did tell me makes me doubt my own judgment as to whether the interview went well, and it also makes me wonder if there was some personality facet that factored into his decision. Of course, it could just as easily mean that there were simply more qualified people than I and he had a limited number of second interview slots.

I realize I can quickly make myself nuts thinking like this, and I won't indulge in it indefinitely, but I can't help wondering. Since I'm left with a lack of pertinent information, I am trying to fill in the blanks. Nature (and I) abhor a vacuum.

I am of course disappointed, but surprisingly not devastated, perhaps because there's another job that interests me more that I will be applying for next week, perhaps because it hasn't fully hit me yet, or perhaps because I'm in total denial :-)

I have sometimes wished I were the kind of person who didn't get so heavily emotionally invested, so that negative outcomes don't hit me so hard. I suppose there are advantages to being able to compartmentalize and remain imperturable, but I am not that sort of person, never have been and never will be. I accept that. One of the great things about being in your forties is accepting who you are, warts and all. 

It was fun to fantasize about all the things I'd do with a salary, even things as mundane as getting our vacuum cleaner serviced. And I will do that someday, with some other salary from some other job. Still, as this was my first interview in nine months, it is certainly a blow.

Thanks for sending all your good thoughts my way. Keep 'em coming.