Job applicants express frustration with “ghost jobs,” multiple interview stages and lengthy skills tests—yet even prominent executives face this challenge. Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, underwent was put through interviews and a trick question prior to accepting an SVP product manager position at the $3.4 trillion enterprise. Similarly, former U.S. Vice president Kamala Harris recently shared the demanding selection process she experienced to obtain the highly sought-after White House role.
TL;DR
- Kamala Harris underwent a nine-hour interview for the Vice President position, detailing her taxes and professional record.
- Even prominent executives like Sundar Pichai faced demanding interviews and trick questions for their roles.
- Harris experienced "gold medal depression" after winning, a post-competition emptiness regardless of the outcome.
- This feeling of emptiness arises from adrenaline subsiding after intense career milestones, even in victory.
“When I was being vetted for vice president, I had a nine-hour interview with a lawyer going through everything,” Harris recalled recently on the Diary of a CEO podcast. “My taxes, my professional record, everything.”
Harris possessed the requisite professional skills for the position. Her prior roles included two terms as San Francisco's district attorney, six years as California's attorney general, and four years as a U.S. Senator representing the Golden State. She achieved significant milestones in the Bay Area, becoming the first woman elected as San Francisco DA and the state's first female attorney general of Black and South Asian descent. Her extensive government background met all the qualifications for the 49th vice president, yet the selection involved more than just her resume.
“Having been in the position of both being the interviewer and the interviewee, it really as much as anything comes down to chemistry,” Harris explained. “Because by the time that that interview is happening, it’s usually narrowed down to about three people. So all the vetting has been done.
“Then it’s about sitting down and just deciding, because it is going to be a partnership,” she continued. “And it has to be where you feel that you can trust someone, you could work with them, you’re doing it for the same reasons.”
Regardless of the outcome, she experiences 'gold medal depression'.
Of course, Harris got the job. But she soon realized that even winning can come with its own emptiness—or “gold medal depression.” A post-competition feeling of depression, anxiety, and emptiness after major career events, that sinks in regardless of the outcome.
She last encountered this feeling when she faced Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. Presidential election, having under four months for campaigning. The vice president faced a significant deficit, necessitating a whirlwind of campaign stops nationwide, preparation for intense debates, and efforts to re-energize a disheartened base of supporters. Her subsequent defeat to the current President Trump triggered a profound sense of disappointment.
“It lasted for days,” Harris said, likening the loss to a “phantom limb.” “I had a hard time reconciling [that] we can’t still do something about it.”
This wasn't the first instance of her experiencing this. She elaborated that the rush of adrenaline from critical milestones continues even after these significant events conclude, creating an abrupt emptiness when the intensity subsides—even in victory. It's similar to how CEOs and founders report feeling they felt empty following a successful IPO.
“Your body is physically used to this thing that all of a sudden stops, and I’ve had that happen every time I’ve run and [won],” Harris said. “Because you’ve been functioning the whole time in a very competitive nature, and it’s fight or flight, and it’s adrenaline surging, surging, surging.”