u/AurumParallax

I applied for a Product Manager position last month and went through the whole three-stage process. My initial stakeholder interviews and case study presentation went fine, until the live product design interview. I completely froze up and botched a standard product estimation problem I usually handle with ease. Once I walked off that call, I was convinced it was over.

https://preview.redd.it/ieuvsh42id0h1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=8e06c78bcdf9ebe3c643e8693052311ae6a9e484

I applied for a Product Manager position last month and went through the whole three-stage process. My initial stakeholder interviews and case study presentation went fine, until the live product design interview. I completely froze up and botched a standard product estimation problem I usually handle with ease. Once I walked off that call, I was convinced it was over.

I was right to expect an answer soon, so two days later I got a polite rejection email mentioning they were moving forward with another candidate. I knew I should let it go.

However, a week later, out of nowhere, I got a new email from the same company. Turns out the other candidate decided to pull out, and they wanted to see if I was still interested. I said yes.

I also just found out I have another CV version which was indeed very manual. I had a professional CV writing service to do the work on it, but I had forgotten about it because I didn't have high hopes for services like that. So my process was successful. When I was sending out the CV I had written myself, I ran into problems with CV Headlines, CV Designer, and CV Edit in general, and I thought my other cover letter had the same issues.

Now I'm struggling to reconcile this. It also had a team of editors, so that helped me finish my resume and feel more confident that it would work.

Now I'm nervous. I didn't "fail" as badly as I thought, or if the CV did most of the work before I even opened my mouth. Also makes me question how much interviews actually matter vs. first impression from your CV.

What do you think, did I really get the offer?

In my family, it was a non-negotiable rule that your toothbrush had to be replaced every single month. It didn't matter if the bristles still looked perfect or if it was an expensive electric head; on the first of every month, the old one went into the trash. My parents were sticklers for oral hygiene and always told us that a toothbrush is basically a breeding ground for bacteria after 30 days. I grew up thinking this was just a standard base-level hygiene requirement that everyone followed.

I only realized this wasn't common when I started living with roommates in university. I noticed people using the same toothbrush for six months or even longer, until the bristles were literally frayed and falling apart. To me, it felt physically uncomfortable just looking at them, but for them, it was totally normal and they thought I was being "extra" or wasteful. I felt like a total germaphobe even though I was just doing what I was taught.

Does anyone else grew up with a strict "one month and it's out" rule for toothbrushes, or did your family just wait until the brush looked like it had been through a lawnmower?

I work from home as a BIM engineer, and my home office is my sanctuary. But outside of that office, my other sanctuary is the routine I have for my cats. They are like my children to me. Because of my background in engineering, I’m a very "by the book" person—I have a strict feeding schedule, I buy high-quality food, and I never allow human scraps. My cats have sensitive stomachs, and I’ve spent a lot of time ensuring they stay healthy.

My mom has always been a "just a little won't hurt" kind of person. She thinks I’m being "obsessive" and "overly technical" with my pets. Every time she comes over, she makes comments about how I’m "starving" them of "real food" because I won't let them have a piece of whatever we are eating. I’ve told her a thousand times: do not feed the cats.

Well, last weekend she came over for lunch. I was in the kitchen finishing up a salad, and I stepped out for literally two minutes to grab my phone from my office. When I walked back in, I caught her red-handed. She was leaning over the floor, feeding my oldest cat the greasy, fatty trimmings from her smoked sausage.

I immediately took the plate away and told her she needed to stop. She laughed it off and called me "unreasonably rigid." About an hour later, the fallout started. My cat started retching and ended up vomiting all over my living room rug. It was clear he was in pain because of the grease.

I lost it. I told her that because she couldn't respect my rules in my own house, and because her actions directly caused my cat to suffer, she was no longer welcome until she could prove she could follow simple instructions. I made her leave right then and there.

Now my phone is blowing up. My sister says I’m being "hostile" and "unstable" over "a little cat puke." My mom is crying to our relatives that I’m choosing "animals over my own mother." They think I ruined the family weekend over nothing. I feel like I’m standing my ground for my pets who can’t speak for themselves, but the pressure from my family is making me wonder... AITA for banning my mom?