My favorite rejections: Los Angeles

Here are a few more of my favorite job rejections, Los Angeles-style:

• In 1999, when I was itching to move from New York to Los Angeles, I interviewed with a major polling firm that had a branch office in Claremont, about an hour east of L.A. I had a breakfast meeting in New York with one of the firm’s principals; dinner in New York with the head of the Claremont office; and a final interview onsite in Claremont. The final interview was primarily an opportunity to meet the staff I’d be managing. I brought pastries to seal the deal. The interview went fine. The head of the Claremont office said that all he had to do was get Corporate approval for the hire, but that because his office was profitable, Corporate had always rubber-stamped his choices in the past. I sailed out of the building and plunked down a deposit on a nearby apartment. Two weeks later I learned that Corporate had rejected my hire outright.
• Soon thereafter, I interviewed with an established market research firm in Glendale, just outside of L.A. They knew that I was a manager and what my salary was. They came back with an offer of an analyst’s job – the job of the people I supervised – for 33% less pay. I told them I wanted to move to L.A., but not at that price.
• In 2000 I moved to L.A. to run the market research department of a dotcom that imploded a year later. Needing a job, I landed an interview at a renowned market research firm that made its name publishing initial quality ratings for the automobile industry. I was called back for three interviews, each of which lasted over three hours, one of which included an hour-long aptitude test. After the third interview I heard nothing. When I pressed them for a decision, they admitted that they didn’t have any jobs, but kept bringing me back because they found me interesting.