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Many small contracts also give you a huge bonus if you have >50% 'minority' employment (that includes races that are sometimes not minorities in that specific area, but I digress...).
This whole "theory" just doesn't add up in the Aerospace field, and completely goes against my experience in that industry.
While racism might of been the case, I find Houston to be very diverse in the job environment. I am in engineering for OG&C, and at some of the top firms, being from the US would put you in the minority. People want to make sure you fit in well with the job and some employers are easy to read when letting you down, while others are not. Like what was said before, your resume got your foot in the door; it is then your attitude and personality that decides whether or not you get the job.
I can only offer this advice for the job market in Houston. While the market is great, especially for the energy industry, you have to realize that these top salaries will bring people from all over because of this. HR moves slowly in some of these companies. I think you will find some very interesting interview patterns in Houston, and the higher up you go, the more diversified you will find the interview questions/responses. Not all company's will follow typical STARS standards, and since Houston is home to many Fortune 20 HQ's, you can expect the unexpected.
I absolutely agree with you, attitude and personality end up being deciding factors in many cases. From my experience, having the "wrong attitude" has not neccessarily disqualified me in the past. During interviews I tend to be engaging and the sessions often end up being a cordial discussion, after the hiring manager puts aside the 'formalities'.
A an example, [I will be cautious regarding what I write here, as some construe it as "attitude". I really don't do that, who am I? Laying out and establishing facts just neccessitates calling out some things], prior to getting a certain job, I had 5 phone screens each of about 1+hr, one from overseas from the corporate office of the company in Europe. After making it through the screens, I had to meet with my soon-to-be boss, based in the US, also a corp. exec. Due to his busy schedule, he invited me to meet him at one of the FL airports for the interview. I obliged and I booked my flight accordingly. He interviewed me for over 2 hrs, even over lunch.
This was definitely not the STARS format. Needless to say, he was also very surprised to see me, when I walked up to him and introduced myself. He was sitting, poring over my resume, in the general rendezvous area, as I walked by. He was visibly surprised to see me when he looked up, as I politely said, "Mr. Hxxxn??". Toward the end of the meeting, he actually verbalized the fact that he was surprised to see me and asked how someone like me ended up studying in Europe in a European langauge nonetheless and gaining full professional proficiency (come to think of it, this may be the "problem" right here; You see, I had the opportunity to study, live and work in Europe for upward of a decade. ~40% of my academic credentials listed on my resume are European, the rest are from the US. I studied in a language other than English and my other native tongues). So I explained to him, how I was on an international academic scholarship out of high school, and had to study the langauge of the country, while studying for my degrees. Anyway, we talked some more, and he asks me, "What do you think the next step should be?". I knew where he was going, but I had my hopes on another job in (Atlanta, GA) I had just concluded a second round of interviews, a week prior, also for a job at the corporate level. Anyway, I just responded politely, "A progressive step". He smiled and said, "When I get back to the office, I will have HR put together an offer for you, and we'll go from there". That was it. We shook hands, bid each other farewell and I was off to locate my gate. Three months after being hired, I was "shipped" to the European corporate office for 5 months.
By the way, this company was in the A&D industry and the job in Atlanta, was not, and the latter came back with the same thing, this time the SVP of HR, called me and said, "You interviewed extremely well, we were very impressed but ...", and he went on to explain, 1. They were "concerned" my background was not in plastics, and 2. they felt after two years, I would not find enough to keep myself engaged after setting up their global prod. development department and processes in 4 countries. I was fine, after two in-person interviews and interviewing with 13 people, from C-level officers to my potential staff, I felt pretty good about the experience and outcome...you win some and lose some. So my attitude and personality in interviews tend to be very cordial, respectful, and amenable. In fact one person I talked to, from yet another experience, said, "I Like you because you don't come across as a prima donna, regardless of your achievements". So I am humble, but pointedly confident and never candy coat problems or issues, because there is NO solution to whatever is tolerated.
By the way, back to the job market in Houston, what did you mean by, "..at some of the top firms, being from the US would put you in the minority". Do non-US citizens outnumber US citizens? Just curious? I really like what I am hearing about Houston, the diversity factor and degree is certainly a great attraction to me honestly speaking. I am very excited about Houston, and I am really looking forward to the job market there...my only concern is my background is not in O&G, but A&D, however, I am open to adjacent industries.
It could have very easily been his attitude or a comment he made that caused the interview to go sour, which is probably more likely than the color of his skin.
Not saying racism doesn't exist anymore, but I've never heard of someone being denied a job offer in a technical field because of their race. This is especially true in the Aerospace field where your minority employment can give you what most would consider an unfair advantage when dealing with the government. It's for that reason I've actually heard of reverse racism occurring, but never racism. It's just "bad business," and as with most things in life, people follow the money.
Sorry, I'm just not buying it when the OP is so doggedly abrasive in this thread. I know *I* wouldn't give him a job if I were interviewing him and he acted like that, and it would be based 100% on his behavior and attitude.
I interviewed with the CEO first. As I have mentioned in one of my previous posts, this particular company was an S-Corp, as I learned during my interview with the CFO. Nothing comparable to A&D F500 companies we popularly know or have worked for in the past. To add more insight to the facts, his entire operation was in a ~60,000 sq-ft facility or so, population of the town ~16,000 people. So you cannot compare this company and possibly its hiring paractices to those of the A&D big boys. But he has certainly, achieved a great feat by building and running a ~$200MM business, no doubt. I would not mind being him...minus some aspects.
By the way, there was no "attitude" or "behavior" other than pure professionalism on my part. However, when I had talen a seat on his gesture, he said, "I should have told HR to tell you not to wear a suit and tie...we all dress casual here". In my mind, I was like, "Ooookkaaayyyy", because I had never ever heard that statement ever during any of my 25/26 in-person interviews!! His website did NOT reflect that either, so I was surprised.
My time with him was about 45 mins long, and I had barely finished verbalizing the activities from the second most recent job on my resume, when he made the statement. I was taken aback, because normally, even if you dislike the candidate (for whatever reason - race, physique, dress code, etc.) the moment you see them, you at least wait and get back to them through HR and let them know that they did not make the cut, and come up with similar unverifiable reasons to couch the matter, and not right there in the first 10-15 mins. Honestly, no offense, but I thought that was rather unprofessional and the lack of political savvy, as I have had the opportunity and experience to know how corporate officers conduct interviews. This was not on par.
I really think that in the Houston area, professionals are cream of the crop, and hiring behaviors will very likely follow suit. I expect to see a big difference compared to smaller towns regarding hiring issues like this. So, being in a great city like Houston, you may not have personally encountered issues like this previously, and that is fabulous news for me as it means, Houston is where I am supposed to be! Normally, "the person bitten, is in a best position to explain the situation". Well, as I keep reverting the topic back to the Houston job market, I am excited over the potential in Houston!
By the way, back to the job market in Houston, what did you mean by, "..at some of the top firms, being from the US would put you in the minority". Do non-US citizens outnumber US citizens? Just curious? I really like what I am hearing about Houston, the diversity factor and degree is certainly a great attraction to me honestly speaking. I am very excited about Houston, and I am really looking forward to the job market there...my only concern is my background is not in O&G, but A&D, however, I am open to adjacent industries.
Yes, I am in my early 20's, so take my advice with a grain of salt, since it is limited. STEM fields and top engineering firms will be filled with people from India, Nepal, UAE, London, and more. In fact, OG&C looks for diversity. I would venture to estimate that US citizens where a minority in some of these offices. We did so much work oversea's and with the big uproar about countries ostracizing locals from working on projects in their own country, it has caused a huge increase in local hires, which in many cases leads them to a home office position such as Houston.
Houston people at times like to refer to themselves as "Houstonian's"; A play on the fact that Houston itself has its own unique and identifiable culture. I am currently in a Houston hotel right now, which is in Uptown (a prominent rich area) and the guests are from all over the country. You won't find too many, or should I say as much stereotypes as you might be used to encountering. Houston is a booming city that thrives on making profit and profit in this case has a blind eye as long as there is lots of money involved.
I absolutely agree with you, attitude and personality end up being deciding factors in many cases. From my experience, having the "wrong attitude" has not neccessarily disqualified me in the past. During interviews I tend to be engaging and the sessions often end up being a cordial discussion, after the hiring manager puts aside the 'formalities'.
A an example, [I will be cautious regarding what I write here, as some construe it as "attitude". I really don't do that, who am I? Laying out and establishing facts just neccessitates calling out some things], prior to getting a certain job, I had 5 phone screens each of about 1+hr, one from overseas from the corporate office of the company in Europe. After making it through the screens, I had to meet with my soon-to-be boss, based in the US, also a corp. exec. Due to his busy schedule, he invited me to meet him at one of the FL airports for the interview. I obliged and I booked my flight accordingly. He interviewed me for over 2 hrs, even over lunch.
This was definitely not the STARS format. Needless to say, he was also very surprised to see me, when I walked up to him and introduced myself. He was sitting, poring over my resume, in the general rendezvous area, as I walked by. He was visibly surprised to see me when he looked up, as I politely said, "Mr. Hxxxn??". Toward the end of the meeting, he actually verbalized the fact that he was surprised to see me and asked how someone like me ended up studying in Europe in a European langauge nonetheless and gaining full professional proficiency (come to think of it, this may be the "problem" right here; You see, I had the opportunity to study, live and work in Europe for upward of a decade. ~40% of my academic credentials listed on my resume are European, the rest are from the US. I studied in a language other than English and my other native tongues). So I explained to him, how I was on an international academic scholarship out of high school, and had to study the langauge of the country, while studying for my degrees. Anyway, we talked some more, and he asks me, "What do you think the next step should be?". I knew where he was going, but I had my hopes on another job in (Atlanta, GA) I had just concluded a second round of interviews, a week prior, also for a job at the corporate level. Anyway, I just responded politely, "A progressive step". He smiled and said, "When I get back to the office, I will have HR put together an offer for you, and we'll go from there". That was it. We shook hands, bid each other farewell and I was off to locate my gate. Three months after being hired, I was "shipped" to the European corporate office for 5 months.
By the way, this company was in the A&D industry and the job in Atlanta, was not, and the latter came back with the same thing, this time the SVP of HR, called me and said, "You interviewed extremely well, we were very impressed but ...", and he went on to explain, 1. They were "concerned" my background was not in plastics, and 2. they felt after two years, I would not find enough to keep myself engaged after setting up their global prod. development department and processes in 4 countries. I was fine, after two in-person interviews and interviewing with 13 people, from C-level officers to my potential staff, I felt pretty good about the experience and outcome...you win some and lose some. So my attitude and personality in interviews tend to be very cordial, respectful, and amenable. In fact one person I talked to, from yet another experience, said, "I Like you because you don't come across as a prima donna, regardless of your achievements". So I am humble, but pointedly confident and never candy coat problems or issues, because there is NO solution to whatever is tolerated.
By the way, back to the job market in Houston, what did you mean by, "..at some of the top firms, being from the US would put you in the minority". Do non-US citizens outnumber US citizens? Just curious? I really like what I am hearing about Houston, the diversity factor and degree is certainly a great attraction to me honestly speaking. I am very excited about Houston, and I am really looking forward to the job market there...my only concern is my background is not in O&G, but A&D, however, I am open to adjacent industries.
Ok, I think this wraps up this case: You studied, lived and worked in Europe. You speak the European Language, aside from English and your mother tongues. You have multiple academic degrees, I think 5 from what you are saying (40% in Europe and 60% in US -- 2+3). Geee - what are you doing with all those???
This is very likely to be the issue: Just as a scenario, any hiring manager who reviews your resume, will honestly expect a highly educated European (caucassian) to walk in, because, your resume "screams" European/Caucassian. When you end walking in, no offfense now, they are "dissappointed". That would very well explain all the frowning, double/tripple/quadruple-takes, and astonishment that you say you have experienced when they first see you. I knew there had to something else going on, but frankly I am also surprised!
I think it is a very valid reaction - one of total shock. If I were in their shoes, I would probably get "mad" as I would feel this is a "scam". However, I don't think that you should be "punished" for it. The hiring manager you met at the airport appears to be very professional and his behavior matches his corporate identity or level. But in the case of the other guy in the small town, you probably messed up his mind and left him in disbelief all along, not to talk of resentment; hence he wanted to just end it - dissappoinment over your race and high education: not sure where to put this one, as I said, this could be institutional racism or discrimination.
You may need to come up with a creative way, to let them know that you are not European/Caucassian prior to them seeing you physically when you get another in-person interview, but to be fair, that should not really matter or be an issue, as you have been successful at interviewing with other execs. But just to avoid uncalled for attitudes from some hiring managers, you may want to consider this. Well, when you get to Houston, I hope you meet managers like the one you mentioned at the ariport, who are open minded and willing to overlook the surprise factor and focus on matters. Good luck...
Last edited by Epignosis; 05-13-2013 at 06:45 PM..
It could have very easily been his attitude or a comment he made that caused the interview to go sour, which is probably more likely than the color of his skin.
Not saying racism doesn't exist anymore, but I've never heard of someone being denied a job offer in a technical field because of their race. This is especially true in the Aerospace field where your minority employment can give you what most would consider an unfair advantage when dealing with the government. It's for that reason I've actually heard of reverse racism occurring, but never racism. It's just "bad business," and as with most things in life, people follow the money.
Sorry, I'm just not buying it when the OP is so doggedly abrasive in this thread. I know *I* wouldn't give him a job if I were interviewing him and he acted like that, and it would be based 100% on his behavior and attitude.
You might want to read Str8Talk's most recent post. It appears the "mystery" is solved. He/she does not seem to be one with an attiude as some one with his/her background would be, but he/she is definitely very opinionated and factual, nothing worng with that. He/She interviewed with an exec of higher calibre than the guy in the small town, and was hired - so not an attitude or personality problem here. I really think it is a case of his/her ethnic background "not matching" his/her resume [in the mind of the small town guy] and the "dissappointment" that might have followed. Hence, he "ended" the interview and mentally disqualified him/her by saying, "...he was not sure that he had enpugh work to keep Str8Talk challenged or engaged...". If I were also narrow minded, I would probably be "mad" as well and resort to discrimination, expecting a Caucassian like me, while someone else walks in...
I interviewed with the CEO first. As I have mentioned in one of my previous posts, this particular company was an S-Corp, as I learned during my interview with the CFO. Nothing comparable to A&D F500 companies we popularly know or have worked for in the past. To add more insight to the facts, his entire operation was in a ~60,000 sq-ft facility or so, population of the town ~16,000 people. So you cannot compare this company and possibly its hiring paractices to those of the A&D big boys. But he has certainly, achieved a great feat by building and running a ~$200MM business, no doubt. I would not mind being him...minus some aspects.
By the way, there was no "attitude" or "behavior" other than pure professionalism on my part. However, when I had talen a seat on his gesture, he said, "I should have told HR to tell you not to wear a suit and tie...we all dress casual here". In my mind, I was like, "Ooookkaaayyyy", because I had never ever heard that statement ever during any of my 25/26 in-person interviews!! His website did NOT reflect that either, so I was surprised.
My time with him was about 45 mins long, and I had barely finished verbalizing the activities from the second most recent job on my resume, when he made the statement. I was taken aback, because normally, even if you dislike the candidate (for whatever reason - race, physique, dress code, etc.) the moment you see them, you at least wait and get back to them through HR and let them know that they did not make the cut, and come up with similar unverifiable reasons to couch the matter, and not right there in the first 10-15 mins. Honestly, no offense, but I thought that was rather unprofessional and the lack of political savvy, as I have had the opportunity and experience to know how corporate officers conduct interviews. This was not on par.
I really think that in the Houston area, professionals are cream of the crop, and hiring behaviors will very likely follow suit. I expect to see a big difference compared to smaller towns regarding hiring issues like this. So, being in a great city like Houston, you may not have personally encountered issues like this previously, and that is fabulous news for me as it means, Houston is where I am supposed to be! Normally, "the person bitten, is in a best position to explain the situation". Well, as I keep reverting the topic back to the Houston job market, I am excited over the potential in Houston!
I never said you were unemployable, but you seem to be incapable of reading between the lines.
"We don't think you'll be challenged here" is code for something else, and again, I *HIGHLY* doubt it has to do with your race which will only benefit their procurement activities. I have been involved with the technical procurement process in a large defense firm, and it's true everywhere in this country.
You have admitted that you frequently bounce around jobs, and a lot of hiring managers don't like this, especially in a small company. They want to grab people they can train to their processes and keep around for a long period of time.
Larger companies seem to not view this as much of a negative. Additionally, I doubt the OP's name is Bob Smith or something like that. There might be a little bit of a clue there as to his cultural background that I'm sure people reading his resume are picking up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Epignosis
You might want to read Str8Talk's most recent post. It appears the "mystery" is solved. He/she does not seem to be one with an attiude as some one with his/her background would be, but he/she is definitely very opinionated and factual, nothing worng with that. He/She interviewed with an exec of higher calibre than the guy in the small town, and was hired - so not an attitude or personality problem here. I really think it is a case of his/her ethnic background "not matching" his/her resume [in the mind of the small town guy] and the "dissappointment" that might have followed. Hence, he "ended" the interview and mentally disqualified him/her by saying, "...he was not sure that he had enpugh work to keep Str8Talk challenged or engaged...". If I were also narrow minded, I would probably be "mad" as well and resort to discrimination, expecting a Caucassian like me, while someone else walks in...
Attitude in this case does not mean he came in there insulting the manager's mother. He seems like a bright guy, so I'm sure he didn't do anything of the sort, but he does come off as very abrasive and always needing to be right. I know because I've been accused of the same a few times (it comes with the territory of being an engineer/scientist I think). Maybe that was the issue? We will never know...
But what we do know is the manager was probably honest in that he didn't feel the OP was a good fit for their company, but I have immense doubt as to it being down to his race. The "we will you won't be challenged here" usually signifies they don't see you staying around long, either due to attitude or you have a history of job hopping and that's not what they're looking for. At least it's been the case when I've been on the other side of the interview table myself.
Whatever the reason you didn't get the position, you seem very intelligent. I'm sure there will be plenty of other opportunities. Houston needs technical talent. Keep applying and you'll land something that fits you. I wouldn't stress over this incident as Houston is a very diverse place and use to different cultures in the work place.
I never said you were unemployable, but you seem to be incapable of reading between the lines.
"We don't think you'll be challenged here" is code for something else, and again, I *HIGHLY* doubt it has to do with your race which will only benefit their procurement activities. I have been involved with the technical procurement process in a large defense firm, and it's true everywhere in this country.
You have admitted that you frequently bounce around jobs, and a lot of hiring managers don't like this, especially in a small company. They want to grab people they can train to their processes and keep around for a long period of time.
Larger companies seem to not view this as much of a negative. Additionally, I doubt the OP's name is Bob Smith or something like that. There might be a little bit of a clue there as to his cultural background that I'm sure people reading his resume are picking up.
Attitude in this case does not mean he came in there insulting the manager's mother. He seems like a bright guy, so I'm sure he didn't do anything of the sort, but he does come off as very abrasive and always needing to be right. I know because I've been accused of the same a few times (it comes with the territory of being an engineer/scientist I think). Maybe that was the issue? We will never know...
But what we do know is the manager was probably honest in that he didn't feel the OP was a good fit for their company, but I have immense doubt as to it being down to his race. The "we will you won't be challenged here" usually signifies they don't see you staying around long, either due to attitude or you have a history of job hopping and that's not what they're looking for. At least it's been the case when I've been on the other side of the interview table myself.
RPS13, I think your are missing a very apparent point that everyone who has contributed to this post so far, has readily understood, based on the sequence of all the facts. I don't mean to be rude or any of that, but frankly it is beginning to be worrisome, because the inability to gather data, transform them into information, then take action and come to a valid data-driven conclusion is a serious deficiency in today's work place. By the way, the name on my resume belies my ethnic group. I have a first name that is universal, like John, Peter, Robert, Paul etc., and my last name sounds French. So, if anyone was trying to play that "game" of finding out race before appreciating skill set, they would not pick up on my ethnic background, other than me being "European", and would be sorely "dissappointed" when I show up, just as the man in the small town.
Anyway, so the statement was not, "We don't think you'll be challenged here", but, "I never thought I would have to say this to anyone, but I don't think we have enough work here to keep you challenged or engaged". You call this a "coded" message, when he had my resume for three weeks and conducted a phone screen, and was still unable to see what he claimed? [There is another word that describes that sort of analysis style]. He just had to say that in person, nonetheless in the first 10-15 mins, after writing on my resume and having it for the better part of three weeks, and rearranging his schedule? What an inefficient use of his time, sorry to say! I have screened resumes and candidates a lot. The resume [data source] is enough to extract data and transform into information and come to a valid conclusion. IF I feel that this is truly the case, and that the person will become bored, I don't need to see the person physically, it seems absolutely ludicrous that someone would go that route. I gave a good analogy or scenario in a previous post similar to this: You don't invite, say, a cancer researcher in for an interview if you make hand sanitizers, only to tell him 'we don't think we have enough here to keep you enaged'". Seriously, since when did common sense and reason become so challenging???
However, if I call the person in for an interview, I am no longer trying to solely establish if the peron will be bored at my facility or not, or if he has only been able to keep a job for no more than 1.5 months at a time. I have, hopefully, progressed beyond that point in my hiring process. To have the person come it, I am now looking to assess weightier matters, depending on the specific job - behavior, a quick wit, communication style, compatibility, confidence, leadership presence, response under stress, emotional intelligence and social intelligence, etc., and NOT to tell them under a false pretext that they will bored at my company. And even if the person, as you incorrectly infer, by the way, regarding me, "bounced around jobs", the resume and the phone screen(s) are mechanisms designed to capture and process that information. You don't wait to see the individual to make that assessment...unless of course, someone on the hiring end is not in touch with reality and is going by a defunct playbook. I have taken Strategic Human Resources Management as a course at the PG level and I am aware of good practices in the hiring process. To establish the validity of my previous point, last week I got a call from a company in NC. They received my posting to one of their junior exec level positions, which I had expressed interest in. The caller was absolutely professional, you could tell by the tone of his voice and by the phone mannerisms/etiquette, this is what he said: "We received your resume for the director of xxxx position we have open, and we are interested in moving forward with you, however I have a few questions, as we feel judging from your resume, that you may be overqualified for this position. I don't usually start out his way, but because of the concern, I did not want to take up your time, and it the process ours. So with that, could you tell us what your salary expectations are...". I told him exactly what I was making (not even my expectations), and he responded, extremely politely and courteously, saying the high end of the position was 30K below my current salary point, and he even went on to give the range.
NOW, that's what I call professionalism!!!!! Makes me even want to take a pay cut and work for them! That company knows how to acquire data, process it, transform into information and make an informed decision, early on in a process. They did not even bother to invite me in and then have "scramble" to do an about-face under false pretexts (after seeing the candidate). Then tell me some sort of candy land story that makes no sense to the progressive and rational world, and does not do the science of logic a favor! Because the first "gate", was a no-go for them, so why bother?? That "gate" was specifically designed to find out if they could afford the skillset, after they idenified an early potential "risk factor" to their hiring of the particular candidate. Unlike, the guy in the small town, whose attitude is apparently, "bring them in, we'll pay for travel and accommodation, and if we don't like them, we'll just couch it with the popular line of them being "bored". No offense, but sometimes meeting the bottom line financial goals is a reflection of poor management decisions.
So yes, I interview frequently (at least one in-person once in 1.5 years), and not necessarily to make a career move, BUT just to assess my market value, competitive strengths, and relevance to the exponentially changing job market. And as you might appreciate, yesterday's talent and skill, will not necessarily solve tomorrow's problem. So interviews are instructional to me, sometimes on the phone screen or in an email response to my resume, I hear/read, "we really need someone with this type or that type of certification...", and I make a note and go get it (as long as it is on my career path), that is how I became a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. And I am currently working on other areas/certifications the job market has deemed relevant, in my line of work. So I think it is a healthy habbit, and does not mean I "bounce" from job to job. It is just like working out in the gym, to keep your body toned, healthy and good looking. Interviewing does the same thing for the professional, it boosts confidence and professionalism. I noticed you commented on the need for me to be right all the time; not necessarily, I am vulnerable, and admit to my errors. However, I try to put effort into gathering the facts and running an analysis, prior to arriving at a data-driven conclusion. I go through that "pain" now, so that it becomes engrained in my philosophy, to avoid making a mistake that would affect thousands in my organization, someday in the not too distant future. I am not going to wait till I come to "office" to start learning to put effort into being right, the journey started yesterday...I don't want to be the one who destroys my worker's pension fund, and embezzles their retirement accounts, or goes to war on the pretext of WMD's that never existed...we have enough of those types of execs out there already,who refuse to take the "pain" to dwell on facts. Time for a new breed, I'd say.
I don't know if you have had the opportunity to work in small town America, but take my word for it, it is a totally different world here, especially if the company is not part of a bigger global, international or even transnational entity. Not a good place for someone on an aggressive career path. Your statements suggest you have worked in larger towns and communities all along. If you doubt my analysis or experience in this area, try working for an A&D entity in a small podunk town.
Lastly, I am reminded of the story of little "Johnny", who thought his swing set in his back yard was the best in the neighborhood. One day, he climbed up the ladder, which was leaning on his fence, and was amazed to see that, Tyrone's, Ashtosh's, Muwanga's, Xiao's, Jose's, Khalid's, Natasha's, and Paul's swing sets were just as good, if not better than his. To say the least, little Johnny was shocked, even heart broken! To add to this weighty transcending nugget of truth, I love what Mark Twain said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth, all one's life time". Hence, my conclusion that my career will do better in larger cities, where many people are well travelled and covet broadmindedness.
Whatever the reason you didn't get the position, you seem very intelligent. I'm sure there will be plenty of other opportunities. Houston needs technical talent. Keep applying and you'll land something that fits you. I wouldn't stress over this incident as Houston is a very diverse place and use to different cultures in the work place.
I appreciate the encouragement. I am looking forward to Houston and the opportunities there. From all the posts I have read, in this and other forums, the data and facts strongly suggest, that Houston it a great place to come and work hard and make head way. Can't wait to say goodbye to "small town" mentalities.
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