Chief Communications Officer | Brand strategist | SABRE and Shorty award-winning communications leader | Board advisor | Neurodiversity champion 💥
I was told in a rejection call from a recruiter that I wasn't "Googly" enough for Google. That was in 2013. Over a decade later I still remember exactly how that felt—a gut punch that left me literally speechless. I thought, "If I'm not Googly enough, who is? I'm Googly AF." 😵💫 It made me question myself. 😵💫 It made me question my skills. 😵💫 It made me question the way I spoke and acted. All because one person on an interview panel didn't think I was "Googly enough." It had a lasting impact. 🙅🏻♀️ I share this story because it's important to remember—especially right now—not only how 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 interviewing is, but also how deeply the interviewee might take your feedback. And how long that feeling might last. Be kind. Be patient. Give constructive feedback. Don't just tell someone they're "not Googly enough" (or your version of that). Job hunters face rejection in many forms, the least we can do is provide meaningful context. ## Have you let someone else's words eat at you (even when you 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 you shouldn't)? #layoffs #jobhunting
Sorry you had to experience that. That person wasn’t “self awarey” enough to be in a position to give feedback to others. Words can hurt and confuse. They didn’t choose them wisely. This is exactly why I want to stop the “everyone deserves feedback after being rejected” train that is running off the rails here on LinkedIn. Seldom is feedback helpful, it’s usually highly subjective and much of the time people don’t agree with it and it only causes hurt, anger and confusion. Something like this shouldn’t happen. Yes, be kind!!
I got the same feedback when I interviewed there in 2017. And it was just as vague, and yet it hit me just as hard in the self-esteem and made me question my professional worth. A company as vaunted as Google, where books have been written about their culture and success that I actually read and studied, didn’t think I was good enough? Maybe they’re right, I’m not good enough. And then I commenced spiralling.
At Amazon we called it “bar raising”… in theory every single person hired needed to be a bar raiser aka better than 50%+1 of the current employee base, highly subjective in most cases. I honestly have no idea how I got hired there, but there was a no exceptions policy that whether hired or not hired, no feedback was offered or provided.
The puppets on Sesame Street are known for having "googly eyes" when their pupils dart all over their eyeballs. Maybe this is what they want you to be?
Sounds like an updated version of 'what's your Klout score?'
Just to shake things up.. An old colleague of mine received a rejection letter the other day. They did say they were not moving ahead with his application, but also said that they'd keep his resume on file as they thought he could be a good fit for other roles if those departments start hiring. And that for the role he was applying to, they were searching for someone with very specific accounting/finance skills. They broke it down for him, thanked him, and politely rejected him all in the same awesome email.
The stinging impact of being rejected by the SMCO. DA's office still haunts me--especialy after almost a combined year of unpaid experience there. To then receive NO feedback as to *why* I was left to doubt myself, my performance, and everything else because I didn't know *why.* It takes a person with real empathy, kindness, and grace to decline a candidate with heart. ❤️ ♥️ 💜 And look at us now!
Hopefully you switched to Mozilla.
SVP Strategy @ Saviynt | Identity advisor | Keynote speaker | Research analyst, author, market creator | ex-Gartner, Microsoft, IBM
1moThanks for sharing Becca! Before landing my first IAM job out of university I found myself attending a grueling trainee selection program at a pharma company. A big one. They flew all candidates from out of state to their campus. Maybe a couple hundred 20 year olds. It was one of the first, and the worse “interview” experience of my life. the elimination process was interesting to watch - as people got eliminated, I appreciated less and less the personalities that remained. I have no idea to this date what the criteria was. It did affect me a bit, and not knowing better, I thought every big company hired like this, I thought I would never get a job, ever. —— well guess what, that was definitely the exception, not the rule! Actually, I’ve never seen a selection process like that again, except one time I was called to a casting call for the Apprentice reality show hahaha 🙈