A good friend of mine asked me
for a post on how to overcome disappointment. Coincidentally, this was more or
less going to be my end of summer post anyway. Here is my best attempt at it.
I don’t often set New Year’s resolutions.
But because I was getting older, and because I recognize I’m not nearly as
awesome as I’d like to be, this year was different. One of the most important
of these resolutions was to find meaningful work experience in the summer.
I was supposed to work at this amazing consulting firm. I had done
everything right, to the extent that I had told many people that I was a
shoe-in for the position. The universe, and HR, had other ideas, and I was told
that this position that I had anticipated getting for over three months, was
simply not going to be got.
This wasn’t a case where I wasn’t
good enough. I was as good as I could’ve been. Someone else just happened to be
better. Even though losing sucks, if I’m going to lose, this is the preferable
way for it to happen.
Phase One of overcoming disappointment: examine why whatever
happened, happened. Was I really on my A-game? Absolutely. I met the one of the
firm’s partners at a conference and followed-up with him that night. I met him at his office at 8 a.m. during reading week
(Canadian spring break) in Toronto. I booked
the room on campus in which two of the company’s consultants interviewed me. I
nailed the interview. I completed the test case 90-minute test case while sick.
I nailed the test. I came in for my final interview in May, on my birthday.
So, did I really do as well as I
think I did? Okay, well, maybe I did as well as I was taught. This sounds like
a cop-out, but it’s a roundabout way of accepting responsibility. I didn’t get
the position because I lacked “business acumen”. This translated into failing
to show enough of an interest in consulting. Even though my resume was solid,
it wasn’t tailored enough to the position. And what happened to sending those
post-interview thank you notes? Hm.
Phase Two comes in appreciating all the new opportunities I would
now have the chance to pursue. Learning to cook was something I’ve wanted to do
for ages. I would now have the time to do it. I made cronuts. Learning to drive
was something I should’ve been doing for ages. I finally did it. I can make a
left turn that would blow your mind. And of course, I started a blog.
Phase Three comes in getting back on the horse. Disappointment is meant
to be a temporary feeling; how we deal with it and other emotions defines a
large part of who we are. As it happened, another opportunity came along, this time
to intern for the $23 million corporation and government of Western University,
the largest university student council in North America. It was a well-paying
position that would extend into the school year. My resume was tailored, and
those post-interview thank you notes were sent out three hours after the
interview.
I got the job. And another doing
PR for Bunch, an up-and-coming social network. And another doing business
development and TV production for Raeallan, a motivational speaking company.
My summer of internships is a
great title for another post. This one is about living a summer that didn’t
match my expectations, but more than met my standards for growth and learning.
New Year’s resolution:
accomplished.
I just wanted to say thank you to
everyone who has been following these ramblings. If you’ve gained anything at
all from them, I am incredibly happy. I will do my best to keep up the good, improve
the bad, and keep telling stories. C-Suite Dreams!
Editor’s
note: If you have a topic idea, I’d love to hear from you! Suggestions can be
made in the comments section or on Twitter @JeremyDeMello.
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