Received a recruiting message on LinkedIn, invited to have an informal phone chat/interview, followed by formal panel interview. While I was contacted for this role cold (had not submitted a resume or inquired about positions, etc.), once communication began with the man who contacted me via LinkedIn, he spent a lot of time asking me to prove why I was qualified for the role. Between the "informal chat" and being invited to participate in a formal interview, I was asked to provide my resume and cover letter, and after sending this was asked to put together a "one-pager" about myself and my direct experience vis-a-vis the JD that the man had explained during the conversation (which he subsequently asked me to revise). At the end of my interview, I was also asked some "surprise" questions in French to test my language skills (rather than having told me ahead of the interview that a portion of it would take place in French)--felt like a rather distrustful attempt to catch me in a lie about my language skills. Finally, this interview took place about a week before everything shut down due to COVID. While it's understandable that that uncertainty would cause a pause and/or cancellation in the recruitment process, the organization completely "ghosted" me afterwards.
I applied online. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Banyan Global in Mar 2020
Interview
I had a phone interview with a Principal at the organization about a week after I applied. From the start of the conversation, I got a very uncomfortable feeling. I was excited about Banyan Global because it is a women -owned organization. However, I was being interviewed for position managing a gender program by an older American man (clearly not a POC ) who spoke to me in an extremely condescending and patronizing tone, as if I were a naive little girl and he is an all-wise expert (on the socio-economic challenges of women in the global south, no less). The conversation smacked of everything that is wrong with international development. I withdrew my candidacy and happily took my skills elsewhere.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Him: Your gender experience doesn't stand out in your resume. I want you write a 1 pager detailing all of your gender experience. If you can really wow me, I might pass you along. Do you think you could do that for me? (in a smarmy syrupy tone triggering my sexual harassment alarms)
I think: "If I can really wow you?" I have over 10 years related work experience most of which is in SRHR. Anyone who is engaged in gender programming know that the 2 are inseparable. Were you not listening? I also just spent 30 minutes on the phone describing in detail all of my directly related research and work experience. If you read my resume and thoughtfully written cover letter, you would have a sense of what I bring.
Also, this is what the interview is for! A competent manager knows how to ask leading questions to draw out details about a candidate's experience and assess their suitability. A competent manager does not wield power and privilege and make a candidate grovel for a job by doing extra work outside of the normal parameters of an interview process. Read the cover letter and resume, ask appropriate interview questions instead of BS chitchat, and then ask for writing samples and references. That's how it's done. If you don't have technical expertise in this area yourself, you have no right to make a determination about my level of expertise.
Him: When would you be able to start? I see that you're consulting now, so you're not really working....
I think: Excuse me? "Not really working?!" If you have ever been an independent consultant, or have known any, you would get that consultants are the hardest hustlers out there who have to work ten times harder to market themselves and win contracts, often working on multiple concurrent projects. Yeah, I'm "not really working."
