Good luck man, you got this!

Finally got an interview lined up with an HR screener. Been 3 months since my last go around with anyone.

Agilent this time. Looking at an outside sales role in my area of expertise. Met up with all of them at Pittcon a couple of weeks ago and made the initial connections with folks I did not already know from folks in their booth that I did already know.

One time I interviewed with a small startup, not really sure why I talked to them. Guy running the place was trying to establish some business in Russia, and he said there was an important person on their board of directors with contacts there.

He asked if I had ever heard if a boat called "Monkey Business".

Agilent HR screen was odd, but I advanced to talking to the hiring manager on Thursday.

She was 5 minutes late, then took her 10 more to find the job description and my resume. Then basically asked me how long I've been in a lab, where I lived, and how much money I wanted. This is a sales role so I asked for slightly above midpoint for the salary band since she forced me to pick a number. Then acted like she didnt know if they could approve what I asked for when I left 30k of meat on the bone.

She wasn't sure if the role could be done from Georgetown when the territory is north and west Texas, but said the hiring manager would have to decide. Role is 50% travel and listed as available anywhere near an airport but preferably close to Dallas. Also wasn't sure if I would qualify for a company vehicle which is 20k miles per year, but she also thought Georgetown was 5 hours from Dallas, so her geography is dubious at best.

TxAggieBand85 said:

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Cromagnum said:

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Agilent HR screen was odd, but I advanced to talking to thr hiring manager on Thursday. ....

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Excellent on advancing. Now just land and get back in the game.

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I have a buddy who is a director (service side) of Agilent who knows the hiring manager and is putting in a good word for me. She also gave me insight as to areas he is passionate about. In particular he is fond of application development which is not what this role is, but what I have done for my entire career so far.

So Lilly shot me down for a role in January and then reposted it the other week. I said eff it and sent my exact same application in and got an HR email this time. What were they going to do, tell me NO louder?

They want me to fill out a 25 question thing and if they like me they will pass my info up the chain. I guess in lieu of having an actual HR phone call.

Aust Ag said:

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Cromagnum said:

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Good luck, but sounds sketch AF. They are probably an internal employee because how could anyone know enough specific details to do a meaningful SWOT analysis from public info?

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I got the job, 1st day today!

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Sweet. Congrats! Did you wind up doing your own SWOT to play the game?

Bravo!

Congrats!

Cromagnum said:

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So Lilly shot me down for a role in January and then reposted it the other week. I said eff it and sent my exact same application in and got an HR email this time. What were they going to do, tell me NO louder?

They want me to fill out a 25 question thing and if they like me they will pass my info up the chain. I guess in lieu of having an actual HR phone call.

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I got an email from a Lilly recruiter today. Obviously from their talent network email list but it had a recruiter to contact. I messaged, in a very polite way, that I'm very much interested in the job but not interested in going through what I went through last fall through the first part of this year. Don't think I'll hear back but they're always asking for feedback.

Hiring Manager round with Agilent went well I feel. Very relaxed call and spent more time exploring whether I could make the jump into sales. I got my PhD in analytical chemistry and have spent my entire career of nearly 20 years with chromatography and mass spectrometry. The role is selling consumables into that very segment. Agilent is all about customer intimacy these days and not hard product pushing so I think I bring my own strengths without a sales background.

If I make next round, it sounds like a panel interview where they present a mock sales case and I have to navigate it. Beyond listening to the use case / existing gaps, and asking a lot of questions before making a sales pitch, what other things should I start to consider?

Cromagnum said:

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Hiring Manager round with Agilent went well I feel. Very relaxed call and spent more time exploring whether I could make the jump into sales. I got my PhD in analytical chemistry and have spent my entire career of nearly 20 years with chromatography and mass spectrometry. The role is selling consumables into that very segment. Agilent is all about customer intimacy these days and not hard product pushing so I think I bring my own strengths without a sales background.

If I make next round, it sounds like a panel interview where they present a mock sales case and I have to navigate it. Beyond listening to the use case / existing gaps, and asking a lot of questions before making a sales pitch, what other things should I start to consider?

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You being on the customer side of GC's and mass spec's for so long you surely understand the value of customer service from the vendor. I would focus on how your experience helps you communicate that to the potential customer.

Shelton98 said:

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Cromagnum said:

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Hiring Manager round with Agilent went well I feel. Very relaxed call and spent more time exploring whether I could make the jump into sales. I got my PhD in analytical chemistry and have spent my entire career of nearly 20 years with chromatography and mass spectrometry. The role is selling consumables into that very segment. Agilent is all about customer intimacy these days and not hard product pushing so I think I bring my own strengths without a sales background.

If I make next round, it sounds like a panel interview where they present a mock sales case and I have to navigate it. Beyond listening to the use case / existing gaps, and asking a lot of questions before making a sales pitch, what other things should I start to consider?

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You being on the customer side of GC's and mass spec's for so long you surely understand the value of customer service from the vendor. I would focus on how your experience helps you communicate that to the potential customer.

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Right. I emphasized that a lot to the hiring manager which I suspect is going to get me to the final round. Im asking more about sales tactics since we are going to be role-playing. I know to drill down and ask a lot of questions to understand customer needs, but what if they have someone role-playing as someone loyal to other products and reluctant to change for example?

You either have to beat the competition on price, quality, take the customer to lunch once a week or be drop dead gorgeous. If you can't do one of those four things and you need to move onto the next potential customer.

Cromagnum said:

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So Lilly shot me down for a role in January and then reposted it the other week. I said eff it and sent my exact same application in and got an HR email this time. What were they going to do, tell me NO louder?

They want me to fill out a 25 question thing and if they like me they will pass my info up the chain. I guess in lieu of having an actual HR phone call.

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How did you send it in again? When I have tried the same trick, it says "Already Applied". Which is true as they posted and rejected but now have reposted.

I just started a new job recently. Took a huge paycut. I am okay for now as I have to work remote as my kid is about to leave for college and I want to be home. Experience is good in my field too. Manager lady seems nice, coworkers seem nice too. I work with an 80 year old woman who is older than my mom. And a 27 year old who is closer in age to my son. Interesting team, all women, I am the only male. Never been in this situation before! At this point in life I have no patience for toxic behavior.

Company is a known one. Late this year or next year I begin my job search in the Bay Area (where I should have been in the first place).

infinity ag said:

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Cromagnum said:

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So Lilly shot me down for a role in January and then reposted it the other week. I said eff it and sent my exact same application in and got an HR email this time. What were they going to do, tell me NO louder?

They want me to fill out a 25 question thing and if they like me they will pass my info up the chain. I guess in lieu of having an actual HR phone call.

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How did you send it in again? When I have tried the same trick, it says "Already Applied". Which is true as they posted and rejected but now have reposted.

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I just tried to send it in again and it accepted it. I've seen the "already applied" for every other role though. Some weird fluke in this case I guess.

I applied and had an interview for a role last month. Thought Id at least hear back but saw a few days ago they reposted the position online. Ouch.

howdydamnit04 said:

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I applied and had an interview for a role last month. Thought Id at least hear back but saw a few days ago they reposted the position online. Ouch.

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I think that a lot of companies are in a slow-to-hire / looking for unicorn phase for roles they are posting. Most people and businesses are running tight right now as is, so what's another few months to fill a role?
I went through a handful of interviews with a company at the end of last year and they very briefly reposted the position a couple of months back. When I was interviewing, they moved extremely fast and I ended up talking with 6 different people. Not saying I was a shoe-in for the job, but if it was that dire of a role that needed to be filled they would have done so in 2025 and I definitely could have handled it just fine. Not sure what came of that role or who is even in it now!

Example of how companies lie. I just got this email.

Quote:

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Thank you for taking the time to apply to the Manager, Product Management - Enterprise AI/ML role. Unfortunately, we have determined that you do not meet the required Basic Qualifications listed in the job description. Therefore, we have removed your application from consideration.

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I highlights some sections above myself.

I looked at the job description again to see what basic qualifications I failed to meet.

Quote:

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Basic Qualifications:

• At least 3 years of experience working in Product Management
• Currently has, or is in the process of obtaining one of the following with an expectation that the required degree will be obtained on or before the scheduled start date:
  
  • A Bachelor's Degree in a quantitative field (Statistics, Economics, Operations Research, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Information Systems or a related quantitative field)
  • A Master's Degree in a quantitative field (Statistics, Economics, Operations Research, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Information Systems or a related quantitative field) or an MBA with a quantitative concentration

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The above is what they mention as basic. They have some preferred qualifications but they are failing me for basic qualifications.


1. I have 15+ years in Product Management.
2. I have a Bachelors in Computer Engineering.
3. I have a Masters in Computer Engineering.
4. I also have an MBA in Finance and other areas.

So how have I failed the Basic Qualifications?

I wish there was a way to investigate these companies for lying and why they are doing so. Maybe this is ageism?

I can take a rejection, maybe there was someone better than me, but their reasoning is a big lie.

Typical.

I interviewed for a job where i met qualifications above and beyond along with proven success. Job was by referral. Then got told via trusted grapevine my gray hair disqualified me.

I firmly believe the age 40 to 55 crowd are fearful of qualified and proven results who are older.

Fortunately I've saved well and don't need the job.

Welp, after all that back and forth with Lilly, they decided once again they dont want to talk to me, even after spending a few hours to answer a 25 question assignment for them. If I dont land this Agilent gig, I'm back to square one again. I cant believe with all my credentials I would be ever unemployed for 5 months and looking at even longer.

And down goes the Agilent role now too. Two weeks passed after interviewing with the hiring manager and then I got my rejection. The guy tells me to feel free to ask him any questions, so when I touched base to reiterate my interest, I get my "went with other candidates" email from HR.

Here's to more months of no work as nobody else is in play.

I've entered the interview phase and man is it a beating. First time interviewing since being re-org'd last summer. F me.

I apply for this role 4 weeks ago, JD says its a manager or senior manager based on experience. 3rd party recruiter contacts me in 2 days. I say, yeah, I'm interested, pay was kind of low for a manager, very low for a senior manager. Don't hear anything for 3 weeks, and then he calls me at 8am one day asking if I can speak with the hiring manager later that afternoon. I'm out of town with plans, so I say no, and he reluctantly pushes out to the beginning of the following week. I have the 30m interview with the manger, she sends me the case without even asking if I have capacity, saying she needs it back in 2 days. I do 2 cases over the weekend and it's rough. I had asked her in the 30m interview if the case will be reviewed in person, she says no, then changed her answer to that's a good question, yes. Without seeing the case, she schedules a 1hr technical. No guidance on what is covered. Prep like a mf and it goes okay. Before the 1hr technical, she had scheduled a panel interview for today. She emails 3.5hrs before the panel, and says I will be presenting to the panel with focus on business partnering. I go through it, and get curve ball questions left and right.

I called the recruiter and lit into his ass. He said the process hasn't been unstructured at all, and normal in his experience. Probably pissed that opp down the drain, but man it felt good.

Fair question. One that's magically disappeared many times.

Good grief. That sounds like it sucked to go through. I really hate the state of things right now and how badly job seekers are getting jerked around.

f burg ag said:

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infinity ag said:

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Example of how companies lie. I just got this email.

Quote:

---

Thank you for taking the time to apply to the Manager, Product Management - Enterprise AI/ML role. Unfortunately, we have determined that you do not meet the required Basic Qualifications listed in the job description. Therefore, we have removed your application from consideration.

---

I highlights some sections above myself.

I looked at the job description again to see what basic qualifications I failed to meet.

Quote:

---

Basic Qualifications:

• At least 3 years of experience working in Product Management
• Currently has, or is in the process of obtaining one of the following with an expectation that the required degree will be obtained on or before the scheduled start date:
  
  • A Bachelor's Degree in a quantitative field (Statistics, Economics, Operations Research, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Information Systems or a related quantitative field)
  • A Master's Degree in a quantitative field (Statistics, Economics, Operations Research, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Information Systems or a related quantitative field) or an MBA with a quantitative concentration

---

The above is what they mention as basic. They have some preferred qualifications but they are failing me for basic qualifications.


1. I have 15+ years in Product Management.
2. I have a Bachelors in Computer Engineering.
3. I have a Masters in Computer Engineering.
4. I also have an MBA in Finance and other areas.

So how have I failed the Basic Qualifications?

I wish there was a way to investigate these companies for lying and why they are doing so. Maybe this is ageism?

I can take a rejection, maybe there was someone better than me, but their reasoning is a big lie.

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Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered if you are the problem? I don't know anyone who has more angst for corporations and their CFOs and who is also as incredibly bad at finding a job.

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He is a troll account, previously Bombay Ag. Can't take him seriously

TxAggieBand85 said:

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Typical.

I interviewed for a job where i met qualifications above and beyond along with proven success. Job was by referral. Then got told via trusted grapevine my gray hair disqualified me.

I firmly believe the age 40 to 55 crowd are fearful of qualified and proven results who are older.

Fortunately I've saved well and don't need the job.

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Man, I've been on the exact opposite side of this before. I was a backup candidate before, and heard through the grapevine a little gray hair would have actually helped. Can't win sometimes!

Yeah, another role I was really excited for, I got a recruiter screening. The entire time she's on and off mute because her kid is literally screaming in the background. Not a baby, but what sounds like a 5-6 yr old. She tells me the hiring manager really liked my resume, and I said great. She tells me she's going to move me forward. This was a month ago and she has sent me 3 emails to provide times to interview. Now she doesn't answer and all 3 times I have moved several things to provide 2-3 hour blocks on 2-3 different days for flexibility.

I'm just getting beat down. Thankful to be getting interviews, but I had 2 cases over last weekend. I had 2 interviews Monday, none Tuesday, 1 yesterday, that nightmare panel today, a hiring manager interview at 6PM. I have another tomorrow at 10:00am. Another panel at 1-3pm. Then a case due Sat night. I've been pretty flexible on title if I can stay above $150k. I was making $175k in my last role, but I also want to stay remote.

I'm worried if I can't land something now that I will have missed this Q1 wave of budgets opening up.

500,000ags said:

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That wouldn't surprise me. Some of these MBA programs are probably going to be showing horrible placement stats by 2027.

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Yep. One of my reports is headed to either HBS or Stanford's full time MBA program in the fall. Very happy for them but it feels as though now is as risky of a time to go back to school than ever before with the massive change in the job market since 2023.

An elite MBA is not the shoe-in it once was.

I'm from the opinion that many of these MBA deserved to die a slow death over 5-8 years ago. It's too oversaturated out of greed (in academia which is kind of funny).

I'm also from the perspective that AI isn't coming for anything LONG-TERM. It's going to be bumpy as many large companies get more efficient (and smaller), but I don't think LLMs are going to break human innovation and entrepreneurship (or frankly sociopaths from wanting to be the center of attention).

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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500,000ags said:

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That wouldn't surprise me. Some of these MBA programs are probably going to be showing horrible placement stats by 2027.

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Yep. One of my reports is headed to either HBS or Stanford's full time MBA program in the fall. Very happy for them but it feels as though now is as risky of a time to go back to school than ever before with the massive change in the job market since 2023.

An elite MBA is not the shoe-in it once was.

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Different skillset but we're currently on the hunt for a new QA/QC Manager...it's very early but I've got about 20 people i've identified within 50 mile radius of our op. One those guys top credential is HS grad...but he's climbed the ladder at a local shop I'm very familiar with and have a very high level of respect for their business. I know if he's made it this long there, he's good. The fact that he's gone from entry level grunt to his current position says he's really good.

Another candidate is a highly credentialed guy but his resume seems like a bunch of superficial experience. We'll see but I'd be willing to bet credentials don't win out at the end of the day if both of those guys are, in fact, interested.