Qualified and Rejected

There are few things I find more frustrating than receiving rejection emails for jobs I think I’d be perfect for.

I make the mistake of sharing when people ask me how the search is going about the specific opportunities I’m most excited about, where they exclaim, “That would be perfect for you!” Then, somehow, I don’t get the job (or in this case, pass the phone interview).

It’s hard to figure out what I can personally do to fix this problem. I’m smart, passionate, and have well-rounded interests. I’ve interviewed many times, even doing mock interviews, where most of the feedback was great. I know the answers to the typical questions: “What are your strengths and weaknesses,” “Explain a time you were frustrated with a team member,” and I have even done a mock sales call without preparation in person on the spot.

I have asked for help from my connections, including those at Villanova, friends of my parents, and random twitter strangers.

As all of my peers begin their next adventures, traveling, making big purchases, and signing apartment leases, I feel stuck in a rut, hoping for a way out. Although I enjoy being home for short periods of time, I become quite antsy. I’ve been home only a week today, and I have already completely gutted and cleaned my room, rolled hundreds of dollars in change for my parents, and created the beginnings of another t-shirt quilt all while daily going to the gym, applying for jobs, and looking for apartments to sublet.

As part of my time at home, I’ve watched my second favorite movie of all time, You’ve Got Mail (only second to the wonderful My Best Friend’s Wedding), where Kathleen Kelly has to close her bookstore, The Shop Around the Corner, because mean Fox Books is taking away her customers. Her friend Birdie tells her:

“Closing the store is the brave thing to do. You are daring to imagine that you could have a different life. Oh, I know it doesn’t feel like that. You feel like a big fat failure. But you’re not. You’re marching into the unknown, armed with … nothing.” 

I still want to move to Boston and sublet an apartment for the summer, and I will likely do so alone, living with random roommates armed with nothing but my resume on high-quality paper. To continue to pursue my dreams without a full time job is the brave thing to do, even though it still feels a little like failure.

And probably the hardest part of my job search is staying optimistic in front of everyone. Sure, I certainly haven’t admitted defeat (I can’t be unemployed forever!) but to tell your close friends (who all have jobs) that yes, you got rejected from another one, is difficult. They tell you to keep your chin up, that the perfect job will be the next one, but that is much easier to say as an employed individual. The best responses I get from my peers when I tell them I didn’t get another job is “They suck.” or “They’re missing out.” At least then I feel it was the company’s fault for not seeing my potential, and not my own.

So, what have I learned?

Persistence is truly the key to any job search, and you CAN’T take the rejection personally. You don’t know the circumstances in which the hiring manager made the decision. Maybe an applicant had a connection to the manager’s Mom’s second cousin. Maybe because you don’t have a local address and can’t start tomorrow, they don’t want to talk to you anymore. MAYBE an applicant was a MORE perfect candidate for the job. You just never know.

I promise though. It may not be tomorrow, or even within the next month, but I will find a great job, and I will be SHOUTING from the rooftops about it.

Any recent grads having similar experiences? There’s certainly comfort in numbers.