Rejection is 90% of the job search. It's hard to stomach.
But what if I told you at least 25% of that rejection is actually a gift?
I promise this isn't as cheesy as it sounds. Let me break it down using a real example from my job search:
I recently applied for a dream job - a Leadership Professor role at the FDIC.
I could picture it so easily - living my best professor life, supporting public servants, enjoying government benefits and a pension. I could stay in that job my entire career!
I was obsessive about checking my email and jobs portal. I tried to arrange informational interviews. I sent biweekly status check-ins to the HR rep. I was ALL IN.
But I was rejected due to veterans' preference. AND. I. WAS. CRUSHED. I moped for days.
A month later, something truly wild happened. An article was published about how toxic the FDIC's culture is. Apparently, the agency struggles with sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying, fear of retaliation, strip club visits, and a drinking culture!
This job, unbeknownst to me at the time, was the definition of my worst nightmare. My dream job is the one with a great quality of work life - not a toxic environment (that I would also be in charge of fixing!)! And this isn't the first time an article showed me a rejection was a blessing in disguise. I've been rejected for jobs only to see that weeks later the organization laid off staff.
News articles like this are rare. Most of the time, especially if an organization is trying to sweep its problems under the rug, we don't get the proof that our alleged dream job was actually our worst nightmare. But it's more common than we think! Which is why I've coined the term "dream rejection":
And I promise you, you may not have the proof, but you've received dozens of dream rejections.
So the next time you're going through the heartache of a particularly brutal rejection, remind yourself that it might just be the dream rejection you didn't know you needed. And that your real dream job is on the other side of it.
In solidarity,
Katie
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