Not that job

I just got off the phone with the folks with whom I interviewed almost three weeks ago, now.

They had said that they wanted to hire somebody within that time, and as I had heard nothing back from them, I was fairly sure that I was not going to be the one. Mind you, I knew, given that they had two searches going, that they were going to take longer than they expected (and no, they aren't quite done yet). But still...

So, I called.

The rising director returned my call, though I had been told when I called that the outgoing director "really wanted to talk with" me. It seems that I was not the "right fit for all the different constituencies with whom we want to be working, in the outreach around Manchester. But I really hope that we can find a way to do something with you, to have you do something with our program in the future, because it is clear that you have a lot of skills and experience that are valuable."

Age? Gender? Race? She was very surprised when I asked what I could have done to make my candidacy stronger. The above was her effort to respond to that. She tried to explain it, but really couldn't. She noted, as a side conversation, that my age was not one of the factors (not raised by her, but because of one of the questions that I had been asked during the interviews).

*sigh* I would have liked that job - not to mention that I need one. *neglects to mention that he needs one*