Thursday, February 8, 2007

An apparently unsolvable dilemma comparable to what happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force

“If you have it, you don’t need it. If you need it, you don’t have it. If you have it, you need more of it; if you have more of it, you don’t need less of it. You need it to get it, and you certainly need it to get more of it. But if you don’t already have any of it to begin with, you can’t get any of it to get started, which means you really have no idea how to get it in the first place, do you? You can share, sure. You can even stockpile if you like, but you can’t fake it. Wanting it, needing it, wishing for it. The point is, if you’ve never had any of it – ever – people just seem to know.”

I am writing this blog in order to obtain a little bit of what Bruce Campbell was speaking about in this Old Spice commercial: experience. How does that relate to Old Spice? Well, you take your own guess. Right now, I am in the middle of searching for a job, and as a recent college graduate who does not want to pursue a career in his field of study, commerce, I am certainly lacking “it” while trying to obtain a job in the magazine/publishing/journalism industry. Might I add that it is no fun to be told over and over again that my credentials are not what an employer wants. Ouch. Here’s the most recent rejection letter:


Mr. XXXXXXXX,
Your resume and letter did arrive and I have reviewed them. While you clearly have many skills, I need an experienced editor with a proven track record. Based and your resume I feel that you don’t have the work experience that I think is necessary to do the job.
Thank you for taking the time to apply.

Sincerely,

YYYY YYYY


My favorite part about this rejection letter is not the poor format but the blatant grammatical error. If I were less of a person, I might become violently enraged and email Mr. YYYY to tell him how dense he is for saying, “Based and your resume…” rather than, “Based on your resume…” Seriously, this is a magazine editor writing me this rejection, and he cannot use proper grammar. Suspect, if you ask me.

Using that logic, I might even be able to convince myself that I didn’t want this job because I wouldn’t want to work for someone so obtuse. Alright, I know that’s not the case – let’s face it, I would have loved to have this job. Still, given time I just might be able to deceive myself into thinking that.

So here I face a roadblock. I really want to enter the magazine/publishing/journalism industry in one capacity or another. However, how do I get experience when no one is willing to hire anyone without it? As Bruce Campbell said, “But if you don’t already have any of it to begin with, you can’t get any of it to get started, which means you really have no idea how to get it in the first place, do you?” No, Mr. Campbell, I don’t. Thank you for the reminder – now I am no longer just reminded of this while I am applying and getting rejected from jobs, but also while I try to relax and watch a game on TV.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

People should read this.