Job Hunting: Mr. Right Turned to Mr. Rejection

If you read my earlier post comparing the job hunt to the search for "Mr. Right," then you'd know that job hunting is eerily similar to meeting a new guy/gal and going on a first date with them. Since my job hunt of about two months has yielded minimal results (very minimal), I have also come to realize that finding the right job is not without constant rejection, which again -- is eerily similar to the ups and downs of dating.

It seems as though I am constantly applying to jobs that seem to fit me and my qualifications: entry level, room for growth, hard-worker, attention to detail, excellent communication skills. However, despite the appropriate cover letter and well-groomed resume, I receive rejection emails littering my inbox claiming that while the company was "impressed with [my] qualifications, [they] have decided to pursue other candidates who appear to be a closer match for the position." I think back to the job description and requirements, and try to wonder what exactly it was that didn't qualify me as a "closer match," and unfortunately, can only think that, despite a considerable amount of experience and academic success, it still wasn't enough.

This, of course, makes me think of that horrible feeling of date rejection. You meet a guy/girl who seems to pretty much encompass what you're looking for in a significant other. The two of you flirt -- much akin to perhaps the back and forth of setting up an interview -- and then set up a date, which you assume will be successful since you meet their "qualifications" for the date. As you sit across the table from your date at dinner or next to them at a movie, inevitably, there is a period of  "sizing the other person up." You both try to see if this -- this date, this pairing -- is a good fit, just as you and the company you might be interviewing for are trying to determine not only if you have what they're looking for , but if you two could be in it for the long haul.

Then the date ends -- and this is where things get tricky. At the end of the interview, you get the handshake, the smile, the nod, all of the signs that you did a great job and that they like what they see. Similarly, at the end of the date, maybe there was a kiss and the promise that they'll call you soon to set up a second date. But somewhere, in the midst of the end-of-interview/date commotion, you have the great feeling that this is going to work out, while apparently, the person on the other end thinks otherwise.

You wait. And wait. And wait. In both instances (for a job and for another date), you're probably patiently waiting by the phone or incessantly checking your email. Days go by, and you're wondering what you did wrong and why they haven't called yet. You used all of your best date moves -- the coy smile, laughing at the appropriate times, staying interested and actively listening -- and yet, here you are, without a phone call, an email, or even a text message with a hint of hope.

Finally, you get something, but it's a rejection. Maybe it's in the form of an email or a brief phone call -- but whatever the medium, you didn't get the job and you didn't get the second date. While the company might say that they were impressed and you had excellent credentials, what it boils down to is not the very cliche "it's not you, it's me," but instead, it's reverse: it's not us, it's definitely you -- YOU don't have what we're looking for and YOU aren't what we need.

Then you head to the nearest grocery store, pick up a tub of Ben & Jerry's, preferably in their most decadent chocolate flavor, and sit in front of your TV watching reality shows that make everything look so easy while you're still jobless and now in need of a very long work-out.

I guess these past two months of job searching have made me a teensy bit cynical in the way that a bad break-up can. I suppose I've gone through so many different emotions--denial, anger, hope, then hopelessness again-- that I'm wondering when this bad break-up period is going to end and when I'm finally going to get a date, and a good date at that.

So many sad princesses without their Mr. Right.