Rejected, unselected, dejected

Maybe you’re an applicant (jobs, grad school – you pick!).

For many, it’s the middle of prime job-hunting season. You’ve made it through the winter, you’re ready for change, so it’s time to start looking, and applying, for jobs.

Many grad schools want to see a deposit by May 1, which means that by now you know – one way or the other. No check required to be written for “the other”.

What do these have in common (along a basketball player driving to the hoop, but that’s another metaphor)? Rejection. Fear of being rejected, fear of failure.

So give me the benefit of the doubt here – let’s say it’s neither the first nor the last time in your life you’ll know rejection. How do you handle it?

You can do the statistical thing -- decide that
1. you're unlikely to hear anything at all from 60 percent of the places you apply to,
2. you’ll get an auto-generated form letter from 30 percent, and
3. you’ll actually hear something positive from the other 10 percent.

If you increase the number of applications, hoping that the 10 percent “positive” responses then translate to significant real numbers, then that’s a legitimate strategy. If you focus on a smaller pool of more desirable places, that’s another approach that works well for some, not for others.

My recommendation? Forget the numbers, concentrate on attitude. Try to adopt a “professional” rather than a personal outlook to what you're doing. It’s not your whole life, flashing before your eyes. Think of it as a sales opportunity – sometimes you hit it, sometimes you don’t. Even the former Attorney General of the United States, Alberto Gonzales, can’t find a job these days.

And you can never tell how things turn out. A couple of weeks ago, I just heard something back from a company I applied to – last May. With that kind of a response time, I’m kind of glad I never heard anything – they have problems that I don’t want to be associated with.

Anybody else have tips on dealing with rejection?

Photo by Sim Sandwich