Even top leaders aren't spared the modern job-hunting grind. From "ghost jobs" and marathon interview rounds to exhaustive background checks, even the most powerful roles demand patience—and persistence. Former Vice President Kamala Harris recently revealed that her own path to the White House came after a nine-hour vetting interview with a lawyer.
"When I was being vetted for vice president, I had a nine-hour interview with a lawyer going through everything—my taxes, my professional record, everything," Harris said on The Diary of a CEO podcast.
The process, she added, goes far beyond qualifications. "By the time that interview is happening, it's usually narrowed down to about three people. So all the vetting has been done. Then it's about chemistry—can you trust someone, can you work with them, are you doing it for the same reasons?", reported The Fortune.
Past Experience
Harris, who served as the district attorney of San Francisco, California's attorney general, and a U.S. senator, had decades of experience before becoming the nation's 49th vice president. She broke multiple barriers along the way, becoming the first woman, Black and South Asian American to hold those offices.
But even after achieving historic milestones, Harris said she's struggled with what she called "gold medal depression"—a sense of emptiness that follows intense professional moments. "Your body is physically used to this thing that all of a sudden stops," she said. "I've had that happen every time I've run and won. It's fight or flight, and it's adrenaline surging, surging, surging," Harris said.
That feeling resurfaced after her 2024 presidential loss to Donald Trump, she said, describing the days afterward as emotionally draining. "It lasted for days," Harris said, calling it like a "phantom limb."
Political Comeback
Harris’s candid revelations come in the wake of her defeat in the 2024 presidential election. Despite the loss, Harris has hinted at a potential political comeback. In an interview with the BBC, she stated she is "not done" with politics and may seek the presidency again in 2028. Earlier this month, Harris again hinted at a political comeback during Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women conference, stating, “You Might Bleed, And It Is Worth It.”
Furthermore, Harris expressed regret over not urging former President Joe Biden to reconsider his 2024 re-election bid due to the physical and mental demands of a high-stakes campaign.
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