🕵️ The hunt for the humane hiring manager

The other morning I texted my very first boss to ask: what stood out to you about me when you hired me?

Here's what he wrote back:

"I thought you were super smart and mature. You reminded me of other people I've known in my life who were like that and got things done and done right. You fit that mold and it's a mold I've turned to repeatedly ever since, for 20 years. But there's only one Bridget!"

(Side note: He runs an excellent newsletter for journalists who seek to effectively serve a community called Successful Journalism that you should go subscribe to right now 😄. Everything I know about engagement journalism is built on what he taught me.)

I didn't just reach out for the ego boost (that was a nice side benefit, though!). It's because I'm on a quest: to prove that the elusive humane hiring manager does exist in the wilds of the working world. And to show how job-seekers can find them.

I set out on this quest after getting a lot of questions along these lines:

• How can I find hiring managers that will appreciate the twists and turns of my career journey?
• What do I need to show hiring managers to get an interview?
• How can I address people telling me I'm "overqualified"?

To kick things off, I started a LinkedIn appreciation thread, asking people to share those bosses who took a chance on you. (If you have a shoutout to add, please do!) I followed up with some outreach, asking contacts if they had positive hiring experiences to share.

I'm happy to say that I've already gotten several responses of humane hiring processes, and I've started lining up interviews to learn more (watch this space, as they say).

In the meantime, I asked my two most recent bosses what they remembered from choosing me as a job candidate. In today's Career River Connection, I'll show how to mine these responses for intel you can apply to your next job hunt. I found that their feedback offered a fascinating window into how value can show up consistently, even across vastly different roles at different organizations (in my case, a nonprofit and a for-profit).

• Jonathan Kealing, who hired me in 2021, remembered that he liked the mix of experience I could bring to an intersectional role, plus: "I also think you had an intentionality about your work and about your career even then. I remember the conversation that we had about when you left your newsroom job, and I appreciated the intentionality that you had about that and what you wanted to do and where you wanted to go."
• Jennifer Brandel, who (first) hired me in 2018, said she thought my curiosity and values aligned with the company: "It didn’t seem like it’d be 'just a job' but that working with us would help further her own calling and support her areas of inquiry. When I find that kind of Venn diagram overlap, it’s super exciting. It’s one thing to have what it takes to do a job and do it well, but a candidate who wants to work toward the same ends as part of their life’s work gives off a special kind of sparkle. I’m not sure what to call it other than integrity alignment."

It was while I was interviewing with Jonathan that I developed my approach to addressing interview anxiety by asking myself: how well did I represent the unique value I'd bring to this role? Alignment, intentionality, authenticity – I've been so lucky to find managers who valued this as part of their hiring process. My quest continues, to share more examples of those who are working to create a welcoming hiring process. If you're struggling to find glimmers of hope and humanity in the job hunt arena, I hope this offers some comfort.

Happy navigating,
Bridget

Quote of the week

From a participant in a live Q&A session on the Career River:

"Changing industries is the menopause of 2025, nobody talks about it (until people start to, like it's happening with menopause now!)"