Job rejections

Twice I sent a resume to the Las Vegas Review-Journal for a copy-editing opening, and didn't get a reply or acknowledgement, which wasn't a big deal. But then about three or four months later, long past giving up on hearing from them, the editor sent a reply email saying "the position has been filled." Well, yeah, I kind of figured it was.

 

Always interesting how the whole networking thing worked among sports editors back then. I also did a critique for Paul Anger around 1985 or so and wasn't hired, but within six months I was contacted by (and did critiques for) John Rawlings in San Jose, Arnie Robbins in Minneapolis and Rick Sayers at the Detroit News -- without having applied at those papers. I was still a bit young and green and never made it to the interview process with any of them, but they all at least called to thank me for the critiques and let me know I wasn't a finalist -- and couldn't have been nicer about it. And not long afterward, a referral from John Rawlings led to my first major-metro job.

The one guy I never heard from was Dave Smith at the Dallas Morning News, even though I'd write him every few years. As good as the Morning News' sports section was back then, I figured he was swamped by resumes and could have hired almost anyone. Either that, or he had his own pipeline.

 

You're better off. That Missourian SE job is a thankless task.

 

Can't exactly talk too much as I'm still early in my college career and haven't had many experiences when it came to rejections from job/internships. But this quote ( to this day) is in my email signature and one I think about everyday.

"A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success"- Bo Bennett

 

Fetch beers, kid.

 

I think my favorite was the times (yes, plural) that i received rejections letters for jobs I had applied to 2-3 years prior.

And I got those about three weeks apart

 

The sandbagging from a boss is total unprofessional crap and should be dealt with.
If not legally then in the parking lot.

 

I applied for non-journalism jobs for years -- communications, marketing, project management -- and got a total of 2 interviews. Mostly you get the email back from HR that they are looking at other candidates.

So actual feedback is a plus.

But I finally did snag something outside the biz. Looking forward to a 40-hour week!

 

Just got one.
Interviewed for a SE job Monday, they wanted to move quick because the current SE starts a new job in two weeks.
I used to work at the competition so I felt good going in. I had an idea of who my competition was and the guy who got it is someone I respect greatly.
The ME emailed me this afternoon, thanked me for interviewing for the job, said who got it and was friendly about it.
Usually I feel bitter in these situations but not right now.
Down side is now there are officially zero jobs in this state I can apply for because the rest of the hacks aren't going anywhere and I'm not taking the job that opened because I'm not working 60 hours a week to make 23-24K.

 

Has anyone shied away from applying for a job because you're confident you wouldn't be hired anyways?

 

I've only ever shied away from applying to jobs at places I've already been at. My first job out of college in the mid-2000s, I got laid off after about 2 years there - they were looking to cut costs, and frankly I had some bad habits at the time and wasn't a model employee. Although it has been a couple years now, there are still a lot of the same folks there, and I don't feel like I'd necessarily be able to gain their respect back (not that I blame them for this), and wouldn't want to reapply as a result.

However, if we're talking about not applying for jobs at a bigger or more prestigious paper, I've never really hesitated about that if I meet their minimum requirements. You never really know what they're looking for - Some might want an older reporter who's established, some might want younger without as many entrenched habits, sometimes you have a local / familiarity advantage with the beat, etc. The chance of getting the job is 0% if you don't apply, whereas if you do, it's at least greater than 0.

 

I've gone back to four places, but usually it doesn't take long to remember why I left.