When I graduated from college with a Master’s degree in engineering in 2014, I was given 90 days to find a job. Back then, I wasn’t a US citizen and I didn’t even have a green card. So with my student status expired, I had to find a job, an internship, or something to extend my stay in the US legally. I desperately applied to over 200 companies that led to maybe 3 phone interviews, which none of them led up to an actual onsite interview. 

By the time I gave up after swimming in a lake of rejections, I started seeing LinkedIn posts of my college AND high school friends starting their first real jobs. Oh how it SUCKED. I felt like a loser and failure and the worst part is that I didn’t know what I could’ve done differently. I left the US that summer with such bitterness and one question swirling in my head. 

“What exactly did I do wrong?”

Fast forward a decade and I’ve had a very fortunate series of events happen in my life that got me kick started on a career in healthcare, a few promotions and a few career changes.

Throughout the years, I had the privilege to interview both great companies as an applicant and great candidates as an interviewer. I got rejection letters from jobs that I thought I was highly qualified for, and I also had to send those letters to applicants who were crazy over achievers and considerably smarter than I ever could be. 

Then, very recently, I had an epiphany about the decade old question after having to reject another group of highly qualified, brilliant and passionate group of applicants. And I really just wanted to say this out loud somewhere. 

As cheesy as it may sound, I think it’s also absolutely true that, the reason you didn’t get the job might not have anything to do with you and what you have or have not done. 

When a company posts a job, it’s because they have a particular need. Sometimes a VERY particular need. This need may be 2 or 3 layers beneath what is implied by the job title and as an outsider that doesn’t know the context of the organization, there’s really no way to fully get the full picture. So if you didn’t get the job that you were shooting for and are feeling discouraged, just remember that maybe, it’s not your fault. You may have done everything right and stacked up a scintillating tower of experiences, but it just may not be the tower that the company was looking for. 

And That’s Ok!

It will suck. It’ll be disappointing and it might ruin your day or the entire week. But it’s not you that suck. It’s the situation and the circumstances. You probably did a very good job to be prepared. A great job! So don’t let your head down for too long. 

And 1 more thing. Reach out for help. You will be surprised at how many people would be willing to offer career advice, have a coffee chat, or simply hop on a call to see you succeed. And it’s not just your family or close friends. You might be surprised by how many people masked by seemingly intimidating job titles on LinkedIn are actually more than willing to jump in and offer assistance.

So hey, if you’re reading this and would like to talk to somebody, I’d be happy to be that person. Leave a comment or reach out using the form in the About Me page and I will be in touch with you as soon as possible. 

I’m here to help and this is a safe space for those seek it! 

Cheers!