Archive for the ‘Offers’ Category

Every job seeker has to deal with rejection at some point. It’s a fact of life. Over the course of my Entry Level Job search, I was rejected by well over 50 companies. Some were kind enough to respond with a rejection letter or email, others just pretended that I didn’t exist. Regardless, it can be a difficult thing to face.

If you are in this situation, reading How To Deal With Job Rejection might help. It’s one man’s thoughts on how to come to terms with the inevitability or rejection.

In his own words:

Much like love, getting a job is about making a good match. You, the candidate, must match the job better than anyone else the company considered. Precision matters here. If you’re not a strong enough candidate, they won’t hire you because you won’t be able to do the job. If you’re too strong a candidate, they won’t try to hire you because you might want too much money or you’ll leave at the first opportunity.

Don’t let rejection get to you. Just pick yourself up and carry on. Job hunting is more of a marathon than a sprint.

Don’t keep or display your old rejection letters. While it may be a “badge of honor” to have applied to (and been rejected by) many companies, it’s more beneficial to put the past behind you and focus on the task at hand.

Never underestimate the power of a positive attitude in your job search. Negativity will get you nowhere fast.

Interesting post over at Guerrilla Job Hunting. The general idea is that it can pay off to reply to a rejection letter.

This is news to me. I have received plenty of rejection letters in my time but I have never responded to one in this manner.

Here’s the idea…

…write a gracious reply, thanking the company for their time and reaffirming [your] strong desire to work for them.

Seems to have worked for this person. But I would probably caution you against this technique. Companies usually send out rejection letters once they have an accepted offer in hand. I would guess that most successful candidates don’t turn down offers that they have already accepted (especially in this economy).

So while you might get lucky, your time would be better spent moving on to other open positions rather than following up on rejection letters.

Anyone disagree?

Even though finding an Entry Level Job is often “the hard part”, it’s not the only challenge that you will face. It can also be very challenging to get by once you’ve found one.

Truth be told, I’m a bit of a personal finance junkie. While I am still paying down my student loans (and will be for the next several years), I do my best to avoid any kind of consumer debt. The thought of running up large credit card balances scares me.

That being said, I know first hand how difficult it can be to get by on an Entry Level salary. It was a big shock when I landed my first job offer, only to be surprised at how small the offer was. But I wasn’t alone. Many of my classmates and friends ran into the same problem. Often, your first job pays you barely enough to live on (or in some cases less, depending on your current lifestyle).

So when I read Stretching An Entry Level Salary As Much As Possible (from The Sun’s Financial Diary), I thought it would be worthwhile to share some of their tips.

Most of the article has to do with how you can modify your lifestyle to suit your income. One of the best pieces of advice has to do with how you can reduce your housing costs:

Rent a smaller unit. Rent an apartment unit that is fairly small but closer to work. Once you graduate from college and starting working as a young professional, rent will probably become your largest monthly overhead expense.

This is great advice. You can even take it a step further and find a roommate. This is a great way to cut down on one of your biggest expenses.

Hopefully, when you land your Entry Level Job, it will exceed your salary expectations. But just in case it doesn’t, give Stretching An Entry Level Salary As Much As Possible a read.