“We wanted to let you know that we went with another qualified applicant” “We received a number of great applications but have decided to go another route” “Unfortunately, our team did not select you for further consideration”.

These are the dreaded intros of emails, that no one likes to hear. The amount that I have read these emails over again, are outnumbered. I always feel the pain of rejection, even for jobs that I was not that excited about, it still hurts to think that you are not good enough for someone’s company. This is something that they don’t tell you when you graduate with a degree: the amount of rejection that you will great. I even applied across the country to companies. The summer after I graduated, I received 20 plus of these emails, so I felt like my only option was to accept the first job that was offered to me. Even if it was something that I never wanted to pursue.

Now I’m 10 months into a job that does not even require a degree and that pays less than my convenience store job in high school. Throughout this whole time, I have been applying for other jobs and I am still receiving those emails. The hardest part is not knowing what you are doing wrong. Even with the companies that I get to the interview part, I am still wondering what they did not like about me. “Was I to much or little for them” “Did I smile enough” “Was I wearing the right clothes” “Have I not done enough in my undergrad to prepare for an outstanding resume” “Is my GPA not good enough for them”, all of these things I am constantly asking when I read those couple of first lines when I open the email.

I always thought that it was easier when you had a degree to get a job. Every night I am on LinkedIn, Indeed, and Google looking for jobs that interest me and yet, every time I think I have a chance, I get shot down. I feel like everyone around me has their whole life figured out and have plans, while I am stuck. I have this regret of not going to masters school right after graduating. Every time I find a real interesting job, it requires a master’s degree. Even though at the time I felt like there was so much pressure to go into a master’s program. In my head, I think that I am so behind on life and that I messed up not going back to school right away, missing my chance.

There is just so much pressure when you graduate college. Go to graduate school, get a job, makes lots of money, don’t think about missing out on life. There is just so much more to consider than settling down at the first job that offers you a position. I think that as a 20 year old something, you have the chance to change your mind and it should not be some kind of big deal because you should be allowed to have the leniency in your life.