I am disheartened that I will not receive an offer from Fisher Investments. My first “ding” (negative mark during any evaluation) was in the first interview, when John the Interviewer asked me to tell me about his company. I couldn’t. I received a second interview because they thought I had good merits. Unfortunately, Mona the Interviewer did not feel I proved my merit during the second round. I did not speak with confidence. I asserted my strength rather than implied it through examples. I was not prepared for the weakness question. I did not ask any insightful questions about the company (i.e., “With the recent economy in a slump, how does FI see itself managing its assets in such rough waters?”). I sounded too desperate in the end when I gave my “additional speech” about how I just need a chance to prove myself. Next time, I should have more confidence and consider the company to be lucky to even have me in the first place.
There’s an old Chinese folktale that speaks of an elderly farmer. (Read the story in Chinese.) His horse, for no reason at all, got into the territory of the northern tribes. Everyone at the village commiserated with him. “Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing,” said the old man. After a few months, his animal came back, leading a fine horse from the north. Everyone at the village congratulated him. “Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a cause of misfortune,” the wise old man said. Since he was well-off and kept good horses, his son became fond of riding and eventually broke his thigh bone falling from the horse. Everyone commiserated with him. “Perhaps this will soon turn out to be a blessing,” said the boy’s father. One year later, the northern tribes started a big invasion of the border regions. All able-bodied young men took up arms and fought against the invaders, and as a result, around the border nine out of ten men died. This man’s son did not join in the fighting because he was crippled and so both the boy and his father survived.
Perhaps my rejection from Fisher will turn out to be a blessing?