Another Day
Another day unemployed during 2020 and I still haven’t the slightest clue what I’ll do with myself. The thought lingers a little longer as I groggily check my phone for the contents of my mailbox. It was already eleven and I was still in bed, as had become my custom during quarantine times.
Another rejection…
I don’t need to finish reading “Thank you for your application, however, we regret-” before I swipe to delete the cumbersome and repetitive email. It must have been the 10th one I’d gotten in the last two weeks. If I’ll be honest each rejection letter got easier to receive. Almost as if I had gone numb to the fact that no one wanted to hire a recent grad during a pandemic. But today would be different. Today I would take a break from the endless job hunting. Today I would work on me.
As I got up and stretched I thought about my to-do list:
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- Finish the next online chapter of my Python coding class
- Go on a walk
- Cook a new recipe
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The list was simple enough. These things wouldn’t necessarily take up my whole day but they were something to work for.
Another day, or shall we say “days” went on, a small percentage of rejection emails would be converted into emails requesting interviews.
Another interview. “Oh great”, I thought. It was no doubt exciting; but these initial interviews were usually followed by their own rejection emails “While we enjoyed meeting you, at this time we are unable to consider-”. *sigh* And this was in the case they would actually follow up with me. It was common enough to get no reply whatsoever.
Another day, another rejection…
But something was changing. The rejections came in but so did the requests for more interviews! And as I managed my expectations into my interviews, I found I was beginning to get through them without much trouble and I was maybe even enjoying them! I began to relax and start thinking more clearly with each passing one. I even had more skills to speak about, which made the process something I soon found rather effortless.
With each day I worked on my hard skills and I got more and more motivated about the things I was learning. I had gotten through an entire Python mastery level course. I had taken my walks to new heights (figuratively and literally) as I began to hike and explore the surrounding nature. Not to mention my cooking had gotten MUCH better. My family even said it was now not only edible but even kind of tasty! In addition to all of these areas, I had improved the personal views of my skill set which helped me explain to hiring teams why I felt I was a good fit for an opening. This helped me gain poise and a newfound charm in my interviews and increased my ability to better express my value to future employers.
Then another day came. I was eating lunch in my kitchen mid-bite of homemade pasta. (A newfound recipe) I scrolled briefly checking my email, clicking on a new message from a company I had felt the most comfortable in an interview than I had ever felt before. In addition, I had wanted a position like this for quite some time from a company of this size. I was hopeful, but not overly so, as I was ready for what I could expect.
Another email.
“Thank you for your interest in “Our Company”, after discussion with our team about your interviews we are pleased to offer..”
I let out a deep breath. *Whew*
This was another great day.
