The First Bitter Sting of Defeat

Now that I've been out of college for approximately three months and I am moving to California in just over one, I've begun applying for jobs with a much greater intensity. My job search, which up to now had involved peeking at job sites a couple times daily, has devolved into hourly checks from morning to night on every job board known to man. On second thought, that makes me sound kind of desperate. Scratch that. Let's just say that, lately, I've been looking a lot harder. Anyway, recently, I thought that I might have landed on a gold mine when I applied for a copywriting position and was actually granted an interview.

I've always felt confident in interviews, so when I answered my phone to begin the process, though I was somewhat nervous, I believed that everything would go smoothly. Now, you're probably thinking, "Oh boy! I wonder what Rob must have said to mess this up?" What's amazing is, as far as I know, I didn't mess it up. I felt a good connection with my interviewer and the job seemed like a lot of fun. By the time I hung up the phone, a half hour after the interview was actually scheduled to go until, I felt legitimately good about my chances. Now all I had to do was play the waiting game.

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As it turns out, the waiting game is the worst game ever invented. Every day that passed, my confidence about the interview waned. Did I say something wrong? Am I not experienced enough? It's amazing how only a few days of waiting can make someone go from happy and confident to nervous and uncertain. A full week after the initial interview, I contacted the person responsible for hiring. It was nothing more than a simple thank you, a little way of saying "by the way I'm still here", but it made me feel a little better. For some reason it gave me the sense that I had somehow staved off execution and, now that I had shown I was still around, I would be sure to hear back. Unfortunately, later in the night I did hear back. The e-mail came in the form of one of those generic rejection letters that somehow manages to make you feel like you were both really close to getting the job and that you weren't considered at all.

Needless to say, I was disappointed when I read the news. I was very enthused about the possibility of working for this company and the fact that it didn't pan out left me, for lack of a better expression, feeling pretty crappy. I think it's important though that I clarify here that I'm not bitter about not getting the job. I'm sure that there were many qualified candidates for the position and that, in my humble opinion, though I gave a pretty good interview, there was probably just somebody out there who was a better fit. There's no reason to get upset about it. It's just the way things happened. If a position opens up with that company in the future I'll probably apply again because I really enjoyed the interview. But until then, it's important that I don't let myself get bogged down by the job that got away. As soon as you start dwelling on what could have been, you won't be able to focus on what's ahead. I learned a valuable lesson today, and, after a cold beer or two, I'll be ready to get back on the job hunting horse and find something else.

P.S.
Hopefully this post connected with others who've felt the sting of defeat. If you're out there and reading this, I feel for you. We're all in it together. If you'd like to share your own "almost was" moments, feel free to leave a comment on this post. Somehow, writing about it softens the blow.