The interviews went well, but I didn’t get it the job

Two weeks ago, I had an initial interview for a significant promotion at work (Interview Post). That interview went extremely well and I was asked to interview again. And again. and again. Over the last 3 weeks, I had 6 interviews with nearly a dozen different people, several of them back to back. I had my last interview a week ago and Friday I got the news that I was not getting the job. I had received hints that rejection was coming, but it was still a disappointment to be told officially.

In hindsight, I don’t think I could have done anything differently to change the outcome. The ultimate reason that I didn’t get the job was a lack of experience, something that I can’t change. My outfit, which was the biggest source of anxiety prior to the interviews, was in line with the other women who were interviewed. The biggest challenge ended up being my voice. I am not used to talking for extended periods and back-to-back interviews put a serious strain on my voice. By the end I was struggling to maintain my voice, an issue I hadn’t encountered in several months. I think I did pretty well in the interviews, all things considered.

Getting rejected has prompted me to start considering the next step in my career. Frequent job changes are fairly common in my field. It is expected to jump jobs every 2 years, especially if you don’t get promoted. I have been in my current position for a little over a year, so it wouldn’t be unusual to change jobs in about a year. With a few exceptions, my job has been fantastic about my transition and I don’t know if I will find another company that will be so good regarding trans issues. However, changing jobs offers some important opportunities. It would be nice to work at a place where nobody knew about my transition or dead name. Nobody has been overtly hostile about it, but my transition does still come up occasionally. It would be nice not to have to deal with that. It would also give me an opportunity to relocate to a more progressive area, something I have been seriously considering. I likely won’t have to make the decision to change jobs for another year, but I have started thinking about it.