I was approached by a corporate recruiter on LinkedIn. It was good timing since I was considering growing medium-sized tech companies for the next step in my career. Aside from my time in entrepreneurship, I've worked for large corporations. During our 30 minute phone screen, the recruiter and I spent time digging deeper into my professional background and discussed the sales position she was seeking to fill. Since there was a great fit, I agreed to apply for the sales position. I also emailed the recruiter documents to support my consistent sales achievements as a top sales performer, philanthropic contributions and sent stellar recommendations from my diverse group of leadership, peers and clients who confirmed my accomplishments and expressed how they enjoyed working with me. The hiring manager received copies too. These documents were sent voluntarily. During my professional career, I also served as a Sales Training Manager (Certified Sales Coach) who built value selling and digital training programs which made Pluralsight’s sales opportunity even more appealing to me. Originally, the recruiter said the hiring manager meets with his candidates. We discussed the area he likes to meet people. I was not invited for a face to face meeting. Instead, I was scheduled for a 45 minute phone interview. The call was scheduled for almost 2 weeks away. I was advised that a phone call was scheduled because the hiring manager was traveling. He was actually in town the day of our call. For various reasons, before the call, I sensed little interest from him, but wanted to be optimistic. On the day of the call, his demeanor was pleasant, but I could tell from the start there was no enthusiasm. I was willing to compete throughout the process and wait for the outcome. When discussing my professional background, I mentioned a large digital media company I worked for several years before joining the Fortune 40 tech company. The digital media company has employees who authors some of Pluralsight's training courses. He didn't know I worked there and seemed shocked. That was surprising because the company has a prominent position on my resume. It’s also included on my LinkedIn profile. He gave me time for questions. I asked specifics for his ideal candidate. In his response, nothing was said that would have disqualified me. He said he enjoyed the time and mentioned I was articulate. I was hoping to hear something about how my professional experience, skills and energy could potentially add value to his team and company's culture. I’ve reviewed the professional backgrounds of the current enterprise salespeople in Atlanta on LinkedIn. My experience and skills didn’t disqualify me. Without going into much details on my discovery, I found it disheartening to see zero people of color (particularly female of color in this team’s case) in a sales role in a diverse, metropolitan high tech area like Atlanta. Throughout the entire company I found two salespeople of color in my review. When I received the call from the recruiter that I was not being moved forward to the short list, I was genuinely not surprised. As an error, during one of my follow up calls, she mentioned the hiring manager was waiting on a project from me. I wasn't sure what she was speaking about. When I reached out to the hiring manager for clarification, he confirmed that wasn't intended for me. I was never invited to submit a project during the first round of interviews. I’ve asked the recruiter for feedback from my phone call with the hiring manager and his interest level. After being in the process for 4 weeks, no feedback was given to me. While I was in the process, without being requested or advised, I signed up for Pluralsight’s 10 day free trial. As an IT sales professional, I completed some learning modules to gain a deeper understanding on how Pluralsight’s training solutions work. The recruiter and hiring manager were aware of the valuable time I was spending and investing in their company. Pluralsight has the right to hire who they want to work for them. I advise serious professionals to do their own due diligence. I am a very qualified, trustworthy, proven enterprise sales professional, who happens to be a woman of color, who went above and beyond in the "interview process", even when evidence showed I was not considered as a serious candidate. I also understand Pluralsight's mission and values and strong competitors. Although I was not given fair opportunity to compete for the short list and the job itself (and probably a great blessing for me I didn't), I hope the company will evaluate their current employee base and skills and truly strive for inclusiveness. Diversity in action will benefit the company and the clients. Having an organized and structured interviewing system will bring transparency and fairness to the hiring process. Best wishes to Pluralsight for success as a new public company.