So I have a story for you.
I’ve been in talks with a private equity firm. They approached me. They liked my background and wanted to build a role around me to oversee their sales strategy across their portfolio companies. After 15 interviews, a full day in-office sprint on one of their portfolio companies, 4 solid references, and a fully negotiated offer sent in writing (not the actual agreement), they came back and said the last step is to talk to the CEO and he has final say. When I had the call with him, he DRILLED me on what my high school GPA and why I went to a community school before going to a 4 year school, and how come a transferred to a couple of schools, and why did it take me so long to finish school. It's like he couldn’t wrap his head around me putting myself through school and not having the luxury to not work.
PE is definitely an old boys club with a lot of MBAs (which I do not have) and lots of people who went to well-recognized schools.
I heard back from them and they decided to pass. They approached me knowing what my schooling was before we even talked, they had all 15 people give me a thumbs up, they negotiated the offer, they talked to FOUR references, and THEN talk to the CEO.
Regardless of what I've been able to build for myself, they pretty much passed on me due to the educational path I chose for my career.
I've never been asked about my schooling, let alone my high school or college GPA.
Anyone ever been asked about their schooling when interviewing for a leadership role with 20 years of experience?
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