all right, here’s the low: I received a rejection. Now I’ve received tons of rejections in the past, from schools to full-time tech roles.
But here’s why this felt different:
It was for podcasting, an arena that I’ve been happy to do for free on my own time.
In fact, it was for a podcast host role. At a major company.
I have no clue where I’m going in life.
And this has been the reality of my life and I’m sure for many career changers and creatives. This is one balancing act that I’ve never put to practice.
So, how did I see the silver lining?
I knew that my biggest weakness was having no experience in journalism. It was the one attribute that kept eating me away during the interview process, and as I waited for an update.
But when the update came with the addendum “we decided to move forward with candidates with a stronger journalism background,” I didn’t even bat an eye.
I can’t change the past, I can’t change the fact that I have no journalism experience. So why would I use energy to bemoan this fact once the decision was made?
Instead, this company did offer up the possibility of freelancing; I pitch episode ideas to them, and if they like it, I can work for them for 2 weeks at a time.
So the second silver lining in this is that: I don’t have to make a hard decision of how I choose to spend my time full-time, and I can still get opportunities like working at this major company without sacrificing my other career niches.
If I’m honest, freelancing scares me, but it only scares me because it’s unknown. The only known in my life is full-time work, and that’s not for me right now.
So I’m moving forward from this rejection (after having done a healthy dose of wallowing) with excitement of new opportunities that will come into this empty space that was created with an email that began with “Unfortunately…”
Resources for confusing times like this
Here are some resources that have been helping me navigate this limbo state of my life! I hope if you find this, these can also support you in some way:
@simplifying.sam has been my JAM!
Whether you believe in mercury retrogrades or not, Yumi shares some great insights around rest! Because I don’t have an active job and financial stability, I often feel guilty to rest and “not be doing anything.” But rest is part of the equation too.
Kaiti Yoo has grown on me over the year, and I have no regrets!
It's not easy when the thing you feel you're qualified for isn't reciprocated. It's, I think, a worse rejection than if you like someone and they say no. You got this!