They Called Me a Risk and They Were Right.
In 2020, after the dust had settled a bit from the pandemic, I was looking for a job again in a new city. I applied in a management role at a high-end spa, got an interview and left feeling confident that I would get the call offering me the job.
But I didn’t.
I didn't get the job because I was a risk.
That was the reason. Word for word, as if I'm hearing it again right now: "Ultimately, you interviewed well. We really liked you, and thought you'd be a great fit for the position. But you mentioned that you moved 3 times since moving to the Island last year. You just moved here. And told us that you weren't sure if you would like it yet. Its risky for us to invest time and money into someone who might not stay…"
Basically, because you don't stay in one place and we need someone committed. I just moved here like 5 minutes ago, of course I didn’t know If I would like it, not enough time had passed for me to even see anything.
So, because my relationship ended, because there was a pandemic and because the house we were living in was selling and we moved, I wasn’t getting the job.
Ouch! That hits deep to a girl who has a proven track record of not being chosen for something.
Thank goodness I didn’t get that job though. Because why would I want to work with people who approached my presence as a liability?
Who saw my decision to start over as a red flag instead of a sign of someone who actually knows what they want?
If you really want the cold hard truth, there's risk in everything. Every opportunity, every decision, every hire, of course there's a chance it won't work out. There's a chance it won't go the way anyone intended. That's not a reason to walk away. That's just life. There was risk in moving across the country to be with someone but I did it anyway. That definitely didn’t turn out how I’d originally hoped, but thank goodness it did. There was risk in moving in with a man I barely knew during a global-wide pandemic. But I did it anyway and it turned out way better than I could’ve imaged. We’ve been married 5 years now.
The definition of risk as a noun is: a situation involving exposure to danger. And as a verb: expose (someone or something valued) to danger, harm, or loss.)
Is it just a chance, a choice or a decision?
The intention is never to cause harm, danger or loss. The intention is to live happily ever after, be together forever, stay as long as possible. Of course it is. But that’s not reality. We move on. Just like a company can let someone go at any moment with no notice, no contract written in the stars, a person can also decide that what they once wanted isn't what they want anymore. Just like we don’t go into marriage hoping it’ll end quick in divorce. Of course the intention is to stay.
But it would happen again years later. I had a remote contract organizing events for an organization in a city that wasn't mine. And I was confident I could do it, I've been in event management for about a decade, been part of organizing hundreds of events, small to large scale. I've planned two of my own weddings, neither of them in the city I was living in at the time. So yes, I was confident.
I organized three hybrid events. Confirmed successes. Attendees said they were the best events that organization had ever held. On the last one, I wasn't even physically there. Still a success.
And when the contract wasn't renewed? There it was again. “It was a huge risk hiring you since you don’t live here.”
Even after proving with receipts and concrete evidence that I didn't need to be there to do the job well.
Nothing is forever. Everything carries “risk” or even weight. But when you make decisions based entirely on what feels safe, and you pass on someone who shows up and proves they are the right choice, you've lost.
That's the disservice. Not to the candidate. To the company. To the position. To whatever it was you said you needed.
I'm glad I didn't get that job. I'm glad the contract ended. I’m glad that relationship ended.
Both times, the door closing was a gift I didn't know I was receiving yet.
You can decide at anytime that what you once wanted isn’t what you want anymore.
And that’s not risk, thats growth. That’s self-awareness and respect.
So if leaving what wasn't right for me makes me a risk? Fine. Call me a risk. Beats being stuck somewhere that was never right for me in the first place.
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Michelle Gallant
Writer | Creator
