The Right Choice

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In January  2014, Company X advertised for a Lean Leader Microbiology role.  My application was successful and I attended both a first and second stage interview.

Though I reportedly excelled during the interviews and seemed to have a good rapport with the interviewers, I “did not have enough team lead experience” and the role went to “an internal applicant”.

This is a little frustrating.  I must not have conveyed my eight plus years experience leading teams of 3-15 scientists well enough.  Maybe having never had a difficult customer (at least in my opinion) was seen as a weakness.

I was a little lacking in lean sigma practical knowledge so I used strong examples of transferable skills.  I emphasized how I have excellent process mapping skills and how I ask why five times.  With the company supposedly valuing quality staff and expressing a commitment training and staff development. I should have been in a strong position for the role.  Maybe I was.

Anyhow, in May 2014, the role was advertised again.  I contacted them and got a really uppity HR rep who quoted the “not enough experience” line to me again who stonewalled me – the same HR rep who contacted me to tell me I’d not been successful in January.  Explaining that I’d addressed their concerns and improved my leadership answers was fruitless.

Twelve months later and the role was advertised again.

Today (July 2016), I see the role again advertised.  That’s four times in two years.  Either Company X has either:

  • a bloody brilliant career pathway in place (MTL gets promoted/move out and up)
  • hiring policies that continue to make a poor choice (MTL quits or is sacked)
  • poor workplace morale causing those in lead roles to jump ship
  • a lack of commitment to training and improving staff, and thus the leave

I’d really like to contribute my knowledge and experience to Company X.    Point 1 would be great for my career.  Points 3 and 4 would be great as I could be an agent of change.  I cannot get past HR who seem to hold the strings of management.  Their loss.

Update.  The role was again advertised 30/08/2016.

So far:

  • Jan 2014
  • May 2014
  • June 2015
  • May 2016
  • August 2016

A summary of my leadership history

  • 2 years leading the Viable Environmental Monitoring group in a sterile pharma plant.  12-15 microbiologists.
  • 6 years leading the Microbiology Lab in a non sterile pharma plant.  3-5 microbiologists.
  • 2 years remotely leading a “Microbiology Knowledge Cluster” across the APAC region. 6-8 microbiologists.