I’ve been rejected from some great jobs. In high school, I failed to win a summer job as a cabana boy at a luxury resort. After college, I was rejected by investment banks and from a plum teaching position in China.
Terms like “many qualified candidates,” “extremely competitive process” and “other applicants who more closely meet our needs at this time” became part of my lexicon. The LinkedIn profile of my rejected jobs would be impressive indeed. (How do I hire that guy?)
Terms like “many qualified candidates,” “extremely competitive process” and “other applicants who more closely meet our needs at this time” became part of my lexicon. The LinkedIn profile of my rejected jobs would be impressive indeed (How do I hire that guy?).
Still, it seems clear that job rejections are headed for the nostalgia pile, alongside Pop Rocks, big hair, Fanta and hockey fights. Before too long, we’ll look back on the era of rejection letters as “the good old days.”
Long ago, television and movie production companies stopped allowing just anyone to submit ideas. The reason? Studios that accepted and reviewed ideas found themselves on the wrong end of copyright lawsuits when new shows and films bore any similarity to submissions.
Likewise, the U. S. Department of Labor is providing employers with a similar disincentive for accepting unsolicited applications for employment. In September, the DOL sued Palantir for biased hiring processes because Asians were underrepresented in new hires relative to applications.
But the primary engine of change in hiring is more technology than regulatory. If you haven’t met Mya in your job search, you will soon. Mya is a bot from the company FirstJob that allows employers to recruit, engage and screen candidates before moving forward with an application for employment.
