I Got Turned down for a Dream Job Because of an Article I Wrote
By: Tim Denning
Tags: Social Media, Inspiration, Self Improvement, Life, Work

It was one of those moments where time seemed to slow down. As my fate was delivered to me, I couldn’t believe the words I was hearing in the tiny speaker of my phone. Maybe I was dreaming. Maybe social media really is bad for your career and you should never say anything publicly again.

Maybe having the courage and vulnerability to share your most difficult struggles in the hope of inspiring a few people to learn from your pain is a stupid dream and a poorly thought out pursuit.

So many thoughts went through my head. I did my best to end the phone call with my reference, without bursting into tears and feeling like a complete failure. Social media, in that moment, made me feel sick.

It took a few hours to recover and get some perspective. This conversation and rejection forced me to make a decision:

“Will I hide who I am for the benefit of my career or keep doing what I’m doing despite the cost?”

Image Credit: Unsplash

The only answer that made sense was to keep going. Writing means far too much to me to ever stop doing it. I’ve been doing it for more than five years and the notes I have received over the years, have, for the most part, been positive and suggested that my work does help people.

It is rare that I would ever get a message to say that my writing sucked or was unhelpful. Sure there are a few trolls every now and then, but there are only a few isolated incidents.

Writing has helped me in the following ways:

Earn an income when I had no work

Find my voice

Learn how to be vulnerable

Use my experience to help others learn from them

Find like-minded people to spend time with

Hone the craft of telling stories

Become the person I am today

This is my public declaration to say something that feels so right, for this point in time: I will never give up writing for anybody — not for a dream job, not for a career, not for a company, not for the sake of a personal brand and definitely not for anyone who sees it as a waste of time, energy and space.

I will continue to be myself because that’s all I know how to be and I’ve worked too hard for it. It took a near-miss with cancer, a failed business, an epic struggle with mental illness and multiple breakups to arrive where I am today. It would be wrong of me not to try and help others who may have (or who might in the future) struggle with similar life experiences.

No employer is bigger than your life’s work.

No company is bigger than your legacy.

No person is so almighty that they get to tell you how to be creative.

Creativity is a sacred and beautiful thing that cannot be messed with, controlled, or tamed.

What I am saying might seem a little crazy, but if you’re ever faced with the same decision, I compel you to think long and hard about what you’re being asked to give up when signing up to your dream career.

A few rules to consider

When publishing online, it’s safe to do so and shouldn’t affect the vast majority of career opportunities if you follow this rough guide:

Leave people with a lesson or solution at the end of your article

Avoid complaining too much

Never name and shame

Think carefully about the use of swear words

When telling stories from career events, hide names, companies, and customers names from your article

If you consider these rules, you shouldn’t have any problem

Offending people

The reason I was rejected from this job is that I managed to offend someone.

When you offend someone, it often has very little to do with you. The person may be conservative, resistant to social media (if they are much later in their career), insecure, scared or even jealous.

There are so many reasons people can be offended by your work even when the intent is like mine and designed to do nothing more than help another human being or practice a bit of good old fashion vulnerability.

Up until twelve months ago, my writing really had no impact on my career and was very separate. It’s only in the last year since I managed to have a few articles accidentally reach mass audiences that I have managed to offend a few people in my career.

When you succeed, unfortunately, some people want to chop you down. Not everyone wants to see you win — although the numbers are small.

You have three choices when you offend someone or face a rejection like I did:

Allow it to affect your mindset Give up altogether Keep doing what you’re doing and try to dispel any learnings you can from the experience

I’ve chosen option three and am fully aware that not everything I say is right — and sometimes I get it horribly wrong, too.

Every single one of us is a human being trying to do our best and dealing with the struggles of what it means to exist on this planet and ultimately survive.