Interview or cancel?
I genuinely need some outside perspective on this, so please be honest with me.
I have a job interview Friday for a position that would be a really good opportunity for me. The pay is great, and after dealing with a lot of rejection lately, I really need a breakthrough.
Here’s where I’m struggling: the woman interviewing me is a younger Black woman—probably at least 10 years younger than me. From what I can tell, she seems smart, beautiful, successful, married, etc. I’m also a Black woman.
In the past, I’ve had some really negative experiences with other Black women in professional settings, particularly supervisors and interviewers. Some of those experiences felt competitive or unnecessarily hostile, and whether my interpretation was completely accurate or not, those experiences have clearly stuck with me.
Now I’m catching myself wanting to cancel this interview before I’ve even met this woman because I’m expecting the same dynamic to happen again.
Part of me knows that isn’t fair to her. She hasn’t done anything to me, and she could be completely different from the people I dealt with before. At the same time, after getting rejected so much lately, I’m tired of putting myself through interviews, getting excited, and then being disappointed.
Would I be completely sabotaging myself by canceling?
I’m especially interested in hearing from other Black women who have dealt with difficult workplace dynamics and figured out how to stop carrying those experiences into new opportunities.
The job pays really well, and I need a win right now. I feel like I should just go to the interview, be confident, give her a fair chance, and let whatever happens happen.
What would you do?