Rejected From My Dream Job

In honor of my new podcast launching, I’ll be writing a few career related blogs. Check out My First Dollar!

I’ve learned so many things on my career path, but here’s the most important one: your dream job doesn’t exist. You create it.

The year was 2007 and my career was feeling rough. Following college graduation in 2004, had gotten a job in my field doing exactly what I had trained to do (be a news producer), left after a year, and had struggled ever since. I left after a year because my live-in fiance who had moved to the city I was working was offered a job back home. I had gotten a job as an associate store manager of a prestigious handbag company, but I wasn’t happy.

Full-time retail wasn’t the same as part-time retail, which I had done all through high school and college. Managing people I felt were huge whiners was not working out for me nor was standing on my feet on cement for 10 hours a day when you have plantar fasciitis.

During this time, I had continued to apply for jobs and interview on my days off. That’s when my dream job appeared. I was psyched. It was everything I ever wanted. If I could have written my dream job description, this would have been it. I also thought I would be a slam dunk interview because I knew the hiring people from the company due to my work with them as a non-profit.

My interview felt like perfection and I was so confident when I left. In my heart, I knew I would be hired. But a week later I heard the news: a last-minute in-house hire received the position.

I cried like I have never cried before despite the nicest rejection email ever. I was convinced my life was over – or at least my career. I was sick of retail and wanted more for myself. Soon after I was hired to work with a start-up to head up communications.

A Chance At My Dream Job

About 4 months into my work with the start-up, I received a phone call from the hiring manager of my dream job. The woman they hired was going on maternity leave and they wanted me to cover her while she was gone.

My heart soared! I could have burst through a brick wall. This was God giving me a second chance and I wasn’t going to lose it. I was going to show them I was the right person for the job and they would hire me when their hire decided not to come back from maternity leave (okay, so the last part was seriously wishful thinking).

The only snag was the budget. They could only afford for me to work part-time and this was a full-time position. I quickly realized this job was easily done in 20 hours or less and I was bored. Bored out of my freaking mind. I was grateful not to be on my feet anymore, but this job was mercilessly killing me.

When the woman I was filling in for came back from maternity leave, I was grateful. I also knew it meant bigger things were out there for me. I just didn’t know what they were yet. However, I was thankful to have the chance to check out my dream job and realize it wasn’t so dreamy after all.

Have you ever been in that position? Thought your dream job was out of reach OR worked your dream job and figured out it wasn’t what you thought?