The Rejection Letter

A couple months ago  I applied for a job at an insurance company.  I wasn't expecting much so it didn't really bother me when I received a rejection letter in my e-mail.  Last week I applied for a different job but at the same company.  Then Monday I got the call.  I got a phone interview.  It was a full time job 12-8, benefits, and the pay made my jaw drop.

Me being dumb started to count my chickens before they hatched.  I started to figure how I could easily I could pay off my loans, finally move out of my parent's basement and actually plan a trip to a place I've been wanting to go for years, but have never had the funds for.

Yesterday though, I received not one but two rejection letters.  One from the company I was hoping for and one for working third shift at a pretty nice hotel not far from the craft store I already work at.  Now, that one really hurt.  To get two letters of bad news instead of one.  Not to mention reading the letters all you see is blah blah blah we've picked someone better move on, in the most polite way.

Here's the letter from the place I was really hoping for:
We have received your application for the position of Client Service Advocate-CAL00005. After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that you have not been selected for this position.

We will retain your candidate file in our database.  We will also inform you of job openings that match your profile if you selected this option.  In addition, we invite you to visit the Career Section on our website regularly.

We thank you for your interest in *Co. Name* and wish you all the best in your career endeavors.


Best regards,
Human Resources Department

There's no nice way to say it that's not going to make me feel like crap.

And here is the one from the hotel:

Thank you for your interest in employment opportunities at the Hotel.

At this time, we have decided to pursue other applicants for the position.

We appreciate your interest in our company, and wish you much success in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

 

Director of Executive Services

They say that they will keep your application, and at times I have found this to be true.  Rejection letters are hard to get, but not hearing anything can be worse.  A couple months ago I got a phone call to come into an interview at a television station an hour away.  Sadly my schedule would not allow it and couldn't go, and I was told that they would keep my application on file.  About a month after that I got another phone call, and I actually could make it!

I dressed in my best suit, did my hair and make up perfectly, got all my credentials ready and set out for the interview.  She asked me about my experience and then had me test some camera shots for her.  After the interview the woman said she would contact me in two weeks no matter what, whether or not I got the job.  

It was torture going through those two weeks.  Counting down the days and sending a thank you letter in hopes it would make me stand out.  Finally the day came.  I waited and waited, but no phone call.  The next day I called and left a message.  A couple days went by, nothing.  Again I called twice left two messages still nothing.  That was two months ago, and it still hurts.  It makes the rejection so much worse.  I feel like that hopeful girl waiting for a guy she likes to call her after a date, but only to receive the cold shoulder.

I recently tried to re-apply to the same position again, but wasn't able to because apparently my information is still processing.  That still hurts that my information is still being looked at and I still can't get a straight answer from anyone.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, that no matter how much rejection sucks, you just have to keep on fighting.  Try to keep going back and keep on applying.  Use the rejection as a source of power and want to prove to everyone that you can succeed where others thought you couldn't.

We've Been Listening to Lies

From the time I was a child my parents always drilled into my skull the importance of succeeding in school, succeeding in sports, succeeding in a university, and succeeding in a place of work.  We are told that with a college degree we will be able to get the jobs that we want and never have to work a Mcjob ever again!

These, however, are lies.  The truth is that this economy sucks, which if you live under a rock you already know about.  We try so hard to graduate from college with a good degree only to have a constant streak of being turned away and told we need more school, and by the time we are finally done we also have this mountain of debt.  We're full and willing to pay it back but it has to be on their terms.  We might as well turn our heads and cough and prepare for a rectal exam, it's just unpleasant.

So here I am.  I know for a fact I am not alone here, and am probably just another whining person with a degree working crappy jobs and praying for a better future, but hey, this is part of my degree so I might as well not waste my talents.

I graduated high school in 2005 and started at a community college that fall.  Two and half years later I graduate with an associates in Science and Arts (A degree that means good job, thanks for the money, you can leave now) and started at a university January 2008.

I worked hard, would work as much as I could to get a head start on paying my bills since my sophomore year of college.  During the summer I would work two jobs and 60 hours a week mostly just saving money for the coming year.  I was told that if I worked hard it would all pay off.

Finally, the day came.  I graduated in December of 2010 with a Bachelors in Journalism.  I was so full of hope and happiness that I finally accomplished it.  Not long after, the cold hard truth came and gave me a bitch slap right to the face.  Right now I work two jobs both a minimum wage.  One at a craft store and one working in a kitchen in a cafe (which don't get me wrong, I'm great full to have these jobs).  I live in my parents basement trying to be able just to afford paying loans and gas money and still trying to find a job.  I've been a graduate for 6 months, applying for job after job till 4 o'clock in the morning, and have had two job interviews that I was turned down from both.

So here I am, the prime of my life, and just now understanding the lies I've been told since I was a little kid.