#22 “I feel we passed on talent due to someone’s lack of awareness and lack of technical expertise.”

“I was recently scheduled a phone screen for an Indian man for a BA/Compliance role. The hiring manager had stated to both me and the other phone screener, that he doesn’t expect the person to be strong in both, but strong in one with exposure to both. This person exemplified expertise from a BA perspective while also having worked in a compliance org. The LP’s I tested him on, he clearly demonstrated the ability to raise the bar. The next phone screener, a non tech versed white woman, recycled him. She claimed all of his answers didn’t make sense, and his speech was incoherent. I felt this was due to both cultural differences and knowledge gaps. After prodding further, the inability to understand technical responses combined with someone speaking English as a second language seemed to have been the only reason she had a negative opinion on the interview. I tried speaking to the hiring manager about it, but there was nothing that could be done at this that point. I feel we passed on talent due to someone’s lack of awareness and lack of technical expertise.“