Episode Description
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You walked out of an interview and felt good. You were honest. You were yourself. And then you got the rejection email that said you were "too passionate."
That is not feedback. That is information. And there is a difference.
In this episode, Sarah shares the interview that broke her open: a role she wanted badly, a hiring manager who seemed aligned, and a rejection that came with a verdict she didn't ask for. She was too passionate. Too much. Not the right fit. For years she believed that meant she needed to become someone else. She was wrong.
What she actually needed was to stop auditioning and start investigating.
If you have been treating every interview like a courtroom where you are waiting for a verdict, this episode is about rewiring that completely. Strategic interviewing is not performing. It is translating your value into language the room can actually receive. That is a skill. Nobody taught it to you. And you are not broken for not having it yet.
Sarah walks through the mindset shift from audition to investigation, the AB testing framework she used when she was in an active job search, the three anchor questions that tell you whether a rejection is feedback about you or information about them, and why power dynamics in your next job start at the first interview, not at the offer stage.
If you are in a survival job right now, this episode does not skip past you. There is a section specifically for you.
Three practical shifts to try this week:
- Before your next interview, write down three things you genuinely need to find out about whether this is a room worth walking into
- After your next interview, run three questions before you do anything else: Was I respectful? Was I curious? Was I kind?
- Audit one recent conversation where you were in audition mode instead of investigation mode, and notice what you gave up
Next week, Episode 6 goes deeper into reading the room once you are in it: how to assess authority in real time, how to use the room colors framework in a live interview, and a negotiation story where Sarah had every reason to accept less. She didn't.
You are not there to be chosen. You are there to choose.
Follow The Career Strategist wherever you listen. If someone in your life is in the middle of a job search and treating every rejection like a verdict about who they are, send them this episode.
You were never satisfying anyone by satisfying everyone. Stop satisfying everyone.
I'm Sarah Caminiti. This is The Career Strategist. If this episode helped you see something more clearly, send it to someone who needs to hear it. And if you haven't yet — subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.