This was truly a process that did not live up to the core tenet's of an agency that prides themselves on transparency and communication. I was curated and overly recruited for this role. At face value, I was very excited at the possibility of joining XCH. Although, in the end everyone's true colors comes spilling out. I have no problem that I was passed on for this role. (Full stop.) Although the aftermath is something that needs to be illuminated. XCH as a lot to learn with dealing with the psychology of care. In a response that took over a week. I received a copy and paste boiler plate exercise in an afterthought. Nothing spoke of the time, the process and more importantly me…. I felt like trash being taken out to the curb. Given the nature of the formatting everyone XCH passes on will get this message. My name and the job title are the only thing that changed. That response is below: Thank you for taking the time to participate in the interview process with Xavier Creative House (XCH). It was our pleasure to get to know you and learn more about your skills and accomplishments. After much consideration, we are moving forward with another candidate that better aligns with the Creative Director position. Competition for jobs at XCH is always strong, and we often have to make tough choices between many high-caliber candidates. We invite you to watch for additional advertised positions in the coming months, as XCH continues to grow. We hope you will keep us in mind, and we encourage you to apply again. We wish you the best of luck with your job search and continued success in your professional endeavors. Sincerely, My response to XCH was this: Thanks for the message. As part of one of the pillars of Xavier, in transparency, the CD role with Xavier was the one that I wanted the most. My hope was to make Xavier my new creative home. As you can imagine, these past few months have been spent in rather long recruiting and interviewing cycles with little to no explanation for the reasoning why I am getting passed over. I was recruited multiple times to work with Xavier, in transparency. Historically speaking, there isn't any growth without feedback. Currently, I have this feeling I am doing something wrong. I appreciate the chance and conversation. Thanks again for everyone's kindness, time and due diligence. A honest response no? A few days later XCH sent this response: As you know, our core values are very dear to us, and I love that your email mentioned them like they did. I appreciate this email more than you know. I would like to set up a time for you to chat further with (XXXXXXX) – when I discussed this email, we both felt another discussion was necessary. HERE is her calendar to find a time that works for you. My response to XCH was this: Thanks for the message. I would like to set reasonable expectations with our discussion. Is this about reconsidering my candidacy or more related to why I was passed over for the CD role? As you can imagine, those would be two different types of conversations. Thanks in advance for your time. And, as I predicted -- the response was ignored as the agency’s true inability to live up to their core values and have tough conversations was illuminated. I was left to wonder what was going on the last few days until I saw the newly reposted Creative Director - ART (Pharmaceutical Marketing) role on LinkedIn less than a week later from XCH telling me : “We are moving forward with another candidate that better aligns with the Creative Director position” – And – less than 2 days later after I requested to know why XCH wanted to speak with me again after XCH passed on my candidacy. Unfortunately, the lack of response tells me what that conversation really was a lose / lose proposition. It’s not what you are saying XCH, it’s how you are say it. Your actions tell the narrative and the story. The optics alone tell the story. I was willing to have that conversation, full stop. Was this a conversation to add insult to injury? Was it to further make me feel bad, while boasting XCH was a great place to work with amazing unparalleled benefits? I get it, this had to be a right fit…. Knowing what I know now, this was not a great fit. Who is right? Who is wrong? I wanted this positions as I expressed, yet I had to overly go out of my way for XCH. Yet, XCH chose to pursue me and I felt like I was the one doing all of the selling…. Sometimes tough lessons have to be illuminated in plain view. XCH will spin this interview cycle, they will. I hope XCH takes ownership of their faults and the fact that this experience could have been handled better. This is was learning experience for me. Was it for XCH?