Job Search “Failures” Can Be Good

I’m sure that everyone who writes for this blog has had their frustrations and set backs on their search for a good job, including me. I finished my classes in December and officially graduated from college in January, and it took me until March to be offered a position that I could feel good about accepting. I know that a couple of months isn’t a very long time, but when you’re worried about whether or not someone will give you a change and hire you, it drags. Between the end of my classes and the begining of my current job, I worked part-time as a teller at a bank (I had started there the summer before). I hated the job and every day I wondered if I would have to resign myself to being a bank teller for the rest of my life, which is not a good prospect when you’re a college grad and you’ve set your aims much higher. In reality, the job was just something to do before I found what I wanted, but at the time, I felt a little depressed and began to think that all that hard work I put into college was for nothing. We can probably all relate to that here.
But now that I’ve been working for a couple of months now at a job that I enjoy, I realize that going through that phase was probably a good thing. If I had been hired into a nice job straight out of college, I don’t think I would have appreciated it as much as I appreciate my current job. When you have to work for something or wait it out, you don’t take it for granted, and I think that it can make you a better employee. I felt so fortunate and grateful to be hired that I still remind myself of it daily, and I think that helps me keep a positive attitude even on days when things aren’t going so well.
I know how hard it is to deal with what you perceive as failures, like when you’re told you were passed over for a job that you really wanted, were qualified for, and interviewed well for. That happened to me when I was one of the two remaining candidates for a marketing position at a local hospital and I didn’t get the job. It really hurt at the time, but I think it was for the best. If I had been hired and accepted the job there, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now, and I think that where I work now is the best place for me. I guess what I’m saying is that when one door shuts another one opens, but that’s really hard to see when the door has just been shut in your face. You have to keep trying to find a job you want as much as before, and don’t lower your standards because you think you’ve failed. You’ll be glad when you do find that terrific job.