The Bulldog

I once barked in an interview.  Yes, you read that correctly - I barked like a dog at my interviewer.

Let me take you through the story behind it -

I was in my late twenties and looking for my next opportunity.  I connected with a recruiter for a company that was looking for a Regional VP to support their sales and operations in the PNW.  The recruiter was awesome, the first 3-4 remote interviews with Sales Leadership were too.

So as a final step, they flew me out to Florida to meet with their leadership team and the CEO.  Sounds promising, right?  8 in-person interviews after a cross-country red eye flight into South Florida, what could go wrong?

The answer is just about everything.

Between flight delays, a crappy motel with no shuttle running that late in the evening, eating a microwave dinner, and little sleep, I absolutely was not walking into this final round fresh and ready to handle what was thrown at me that day.

The beginning was fine but I slowly caught on that there were very, very few women at this company and especially in leadership.  Wasn’t my first rodeo as a female leader; however, some of the questions were absolutely appalling.

Then I hit my breaking point. The CEO took me to what was the most awkward lunch of my life, especially given I already knew I was never going to take this job.

After lunch, I headed into my 7th interview with a VP of something who kept stating over and over that while my sales numbers and results were impressive, I didn’t seem like a bulldog.

The fighter in me immediately wanted to lose my mind but instead, I asked questions to understand why he had that impression and why being a “bulldog” was an important trait to this role.  He never gave a clear answer - only that “I just didn’t seem like one.”

So I barked at him.  That ended that interview.

I ended up letting the recruiter know that I didn’t need to continue and we could skip the last interview, as it was not a good fit for either party.  I have never enjoyed sitting for hours in an airport to head home more than that day.

Morale of the story?  I’ve met some pretty nice bulldogs.  Having a strong bite is not a prerequisite to be a bulldog.  You don’t have to be a ruthless leader to be successful.

Be your authentic self.  It is the best version of you.

**Side Note: I like to think they still tell the story of the girl who barked in an interview and laugh.  I know I do - likely for different reasons…….