Voices
Then he abruptly said, “Tell me
what you did in your previous
companies.” I thought this was
going to be a story-telling interview like the others. But instead
the minute I said, “my first startup used a CATV coax to implement a local-area network for
process control systems (which
35 years ago pre-Ethernet and
TCP/IP was pretty cutting edge).”
Ben said, “why don’t you go to
the whiteboard and draw the system diagram for me.” Do what?
Draw it? I dug deep and spent 30
minutes diagramming, trying to
remember headend’s, upstream
and downstream frequencies, amplifiers, etc. With Ben peppering
me with questions I could barely
keep up. And there was a bunch of
empty spaces where I couldn’t remember some of the detail. When
I was done explaining it I headed
for the chair, but Ben stopped me.
“As long as you’re a the whiteboard, why don’t we go through
the other two companies you were
at.” I was already mentally exhausted but we spent another half
hour with me drawing diagrams
and Ben asking questions. First
talking about what I had taught at
ESL, then about microprocessors,
making me draw the architecture
STEVE
BLANK
HUFFINGTON
08.12.12
and sample system designs.
Finally I got to sit down. Ben
looked at me for a long while not
saying a word. Then he stood up
and opened the door signaling me
to leave, shook my hand and said,
“Thanks for coming in.” WTF?
That’s it?? Did I get the job or not?
That evening I got a call from
the recruiter. “Ben loved you. In
fact he had to convince the VP
of Marketing who didn’t want to
Every time I read about a
resume scandal, I remember
the moment I had to choose.”
hire you. Congratulations.”
Three and a half years later
Convergent was now a public
company and I was a Vice President of Marketing working for
Ben. Ben ended up as my mentor at Convergent, my peer at
Ardent and my partner and cofounder at Epiphany. I would
never use Mensa again on my
resume and my education section would always be empty.
But every time I read about an executive who got caught in a resume
scandal I remember the
moment I had to choose.