Like most of my freelance colleagues, I regularly pitch for all sorts of jobs. One of my (very successful) colleagues reckoned on a ‘hit rate’ of three in ten or, to put it another way, a rejection rate of 70%. I say this not to be negative, but to illustrate that rejection is pretty much a way of life. You get used to it. I imagine that actors, for example, can relate, with their cycle of endless auditions.
I recently went for a job that I really, really wanted. I got down to the last two candidates, but ultimately came the (very nicely worded) rejection email. For a couple of hours, I was absolutely gutted. Even the dog could sense that something was up, and came over to offer sympathy and cuddles (but not biscuits, I couldn’t help but notice). Unusually for me, I started to think that I was sick of this industry, the feast or famine, the ups and downs that inevitably take their toll on your self-esteem. But years of this yo-yo crap must’ve toughened me up a tad; by this morning I was back to my usual irrepressible, optimistic (and hopefully not irredeemably deluded) self.
So, onwards and upwards as they say.
I recently went for a job that I really, really wanted. I got down to the last two candidates, but ultimately came the (very nicely worded) rejection email. For a couple of hours, I was absolutely gutted. Even the dog could sense that something was up, and came over to offer sympathy and cuddles (but not biscuits, I couldn’t help but notice). Unusually for me, I started to think that I was sick of this industry, the feast or famine, the ups and downs that inevitably take their toll on your self-esteem. But years of this yo-yo crap must’ve toughened me up a tad; by this morning I was back to my usual irrepressible, optimistic (and hopefully not irredeemably deluded) self.
So, onwards and upwards as they say.