How Frustrating is Job Search Rejection? No Really, Tell Me How You REALLY Feel! (Taylor Grey Meyer)

I read a fun post from my job search friend, Wendy Terwelp, about Taylor Grey Meyer.  Have you heard of Taylor?

Apparently Taylor submitted 30 resumes to her target company, the San Diego Padres, and got all the normal rejections.  In Wendy’s blog post, titled Ticked off? Step away from the keyboard!, she suggests what Taylor could have done differently (like, network in, and not submit blind resumes).

I don’t want to talk about what Taylor could have been better in her job search. I want to talk about the frustrations with how employers treat “candidates.”

In Taylor’s post she said:

One point I want to reiterate is the email was not in response to rejection. Rejection is a part of life. It’s also expected in this job market.”

To better understand what happened, you can read this post. Be warned that Taylor’s response to the Padres includes strong language, which I wouldn’t want my kids reading.  Here’s a summary of the story:

Taylor applied a lot of times to various positions, even entry-level minimum-wage jobs.

Taylor got rejected every time (I’m guessing some where “resume black hole” non-responses).

Taylor gets a letter from the Padres, inviting her to some kind of job fair (they said it wasn’t a job fair)… the catch is she would have to pay $495 to get the opportunity to be there.

My first reaction for the Padres: FOUL!  FOUL!  How disrespectful of you to PREY on job seekers that way!

Taylor had enough.  She wrote a brilliant letter back to them, including a paragraph talking about her qualifications, starting this way:

Let’s talk about why I wasn’t a good fit with your organization. Was it my extensive education that made me less of a fit,…

I loved that whole paragraph. It was what every job seeker wants to say. I wanted to say it many times.

What do you mean I’m not the right fit? Is it my MBA? Was it my last role, or job title, or experience??

How very frustrating. Sometimes I felt the job search was like a Victorian dance, with rules of etiquette that I never quite understood.

It was my bad for not understanding how the job search went, what my relationship with recruiters was, what my roles were, how to most effectively spend my time, what networking and follow-up really meant, how my attitude affected the outcome, etc.

I’ll take responsibility for not being as prepared as I should have been, not studying the way things were done, and playing the game.

All I knew was the frustration of doing what I was doing.

And I totally see where Taylor was coming from with that letter.

What about you?  How frustrated are you?  And, what reactions are justified by frustrated job seekers?

I’m in Taylor’s camp on this one… and think the letter will do more good for her career than harm.  But that’s for another post 🙂