An Open Letter To All The Companies That Rejected Me
Dear all the companies that have rejected me,
As a recent university graduate, I have toughly enjoyed applying for all the jobs I have been working so hard to ultimately get.
I know people say to chill out after university, or on the other side of things to go travel around the world before you settle down into a 9-5 paid job, but I was just too eager to start looking for my dream job as a writer.
I looked forward to waking up ready to sit at my computer on Indeed or LinkedIn and look around/ apply for the jobs that caught my eye. I also worked really hard at every single application, making sure that all my information was correct and that my covering letters were the best they could be for each company I was applying to.
With that being said, as days and weeks passed by I got overly paranoid by the fact that all my hard work and determination was for nothing as I didn’t hear back from anyone for a while. However, to my dismay replies in the form of rejections soon began to pile up within my inbox!
Every time I saw the subject of one of the company’s names in my inbox, I hoped that I would have been a successful candidate who impressed them enough to get an actual interview!
But this was sadly not the case in any situation. The only replies I seemed to get was in the form of unpaid internships- something of which I already had plenty of experience with.
However, that being said I still did not let all the generic responses of “you have skills we really value but we have found someone else that is more suited to the role” and “we will keep your CV on file for future reference if something more suitable comes up” not get to me and I kept applying knowing deep down that my chances were highly slim.
I know what you are thinking- queue the miraculous moment where I suddenly get a call from my dream company asking me to join them… but no, unfortunately it was just an endless cycle of rejection and disappointment!
I soon became really depressed and wonder why no one will give me a chance.
I mean I know I am not Einstein or anything but I have worked hard at all the internships and manual/ standard jobs I had, and potential employers all seemed to value my CV and experience, so I just wondered why I wasn’t getting even a fraction of a chance at anything! I know this is part of the fact that today’s economy is not as great as it used to be and it’s so competitive out there. So if I applied for a certain job, there would be 100 more people with either the same or more experience I had- especially if they are much older (so not recent graduates!). Even so, it was hard to process the fact that I would not be getting an actual paid job for a while at least!
With this, I became really desperate and started to mindlessly apply to things that I really didn’t want to get into but what I have done in the past and have enjoyed. I though anything was something at this point and just wanted to have an ‘employed’ label on myself to stop me from losing all hope in the world!
When this didn’t go to plan either (surprise surprise) I started to reluctantly apply for some more unpaid internships.
Although I love internships and I really appreciate all the things I learnt from them, I really wanted and very much needed to start earning money and that requires getting a professional job and not just being an unpaid intern somewhere. But I just gave into the fact that I was getting nowhere in my search and started applying for internships instead.
In the end, I got a few replies asking me to become an intern/ go to an interview to become an intern for some companies/ organisations. And after all that fuss I did manage to secure an internship which I really enjoy and am learning a lot from (Society 19… whoop!).
Overall, what I really wanted to say to all you employers who have rejected me is that I wish that I could have been given a chance to proof myself to you and to show that I am a worthy candidate to invest in/ gamble on! Although I understand that it is a highly competitive game of who has more qualifications, experience and skills that best match the job, I just want you to keep in mind that sheer enthusiasm and a flamboyant energy to succeed and strive are also vital personality traits that are worth investing in!
Nevertheless, I want to tell you that although I have been knocked down- my confidence and ability tested and shaken up a bit, I will continue to try to fulfil my dream of becoming a writer and applying for any job/ role that will inevitably help me to get there!
In a way, I would also like to thank you for your rejections as it has only added more fuel to the fire and thus given me more of a reason to better myself and prove to you that I am a great candidate you would be lucky to have on your pay roll!
Thank you
Yours Sincerely,
A rejected potential employee 🙂
