Almostgotit.com

From Douglas Wilson, On Paper Wings:

Need more proof that committees get nothing done right? The Museum of Modern Art sent this letter to Andy Warhol in 1956 rejecting his gift of one of his early drawings. I am guessing they have regretted this decision for at least 40 years…

(Click for a larger version: andy-warhol-rejection-letter.jpg)

This letter belongs to Kevin Burg , whose grandmother received it in 1938.  (click here to see it even better)  Kevin notes that despite Disney’s declaration that women aren’t to do any creative work, his grandmother eventually became an animator during WWII when women had to step up “For the War Effort.” 

To be fair, it probably wasn’t entirely sexist, in 1938, to deny women any but the most menial, low-paying jobs.  During the Great Depression, many Americans felt that only men were entitled to jobs, the logic being that men had families to support.  That logic was a little thin, of course, as many women also were supporting families, some of which included their unemployed husbands.  

Don’t you love the stationery?  So perfect to send to all the “girls” looking for jobs.  I wonder what kind of stationery the real adults received?  (and we could do all kinds of things with the witch lurking in the corner, too — hey look, it’s HR Wench’s dopellganger!)

(DRUM ROLL PLEASE) And now for the REAL hall of fame!

Many thanks to all the others who have celebrated rejection with me this week, both here and on your own blogs: (please let me know if I’ve left you out… I’m still chasing down the “pings!)

Mikael, Mikael the Mime) (who has magical bodily functions)
James, James Viscosi’s Scribblings (yes, there’s plenty enough rejection to go around)
Deb, A Little Tea or Something (for understanding what I mean)
Peggy, Career Encouragement Blog (who is going to be the best PhD ever)
Alison, Ask a Manager (one of the blogosphere’s best writers)
Truevyne, The TrueVyne (braver than most people know)
Cassandra, Ophelia Blooming (collage-maker extraordinaire)
Karen, Working Girl (there’s NO place like home!)
Rachel at The Drawing Lady  (PLEASE: What’s a Jerwood?)
Ann, Thomas Trails and Tales (hurray for you!  Only 99 more rejections to join our super-duper hall of fame!)
Linda, The Girl with the Curl (who just GOT a job, but can still remember what it is like…)
Michelle, Philadelphia Stories and Michelle Wittle’s Web log (Inspiring, she is)
Dave, Dare to Dream (The only licensed advice-giver in the bunch)
Bill, not poetry blog (for this collage of rejection letters!)
Jackson, Blue Mosaic Me (who actually LIKED his most recent rejection letter.)

As well as for my blogless-but-wonderful fellow rejectees Kathy, David, Tom R., Felicia, Keith, Pam S., Mini-Betsy, Marisa and Laura E

The picture above was inspired by my friend David, who suggested the words and said “it’s all about the psychological FRAME you choose.”

The letters and stories keep pouring in, so be sure to come back on Friday when I’ll try to have a complete list, including the Worst Rejection Letter Ever (Really. It’s so delicious I want to eat it.)

Also, I need to disclose that I’ve been scooped. The Rejection Collection is a treasure house of rejection letters, rejection letter poetry, plus pages and pages of rip-roaring rants.

Rejected Again? Don’t despair. Join your fellow writers and artists to laugh in the face of rejection. It may not make you feel any better, but it’s better than banging your head against the wall.

I laughed. I cried. I discovered I may be suffering from a hitherto unknown malady called “Extreme Un-Published Syndrome” (Eups!)

Jack Handey published a wonderful series of funny Rejection letters a few years back in The New Yorker. They’re no longer viewable on TNY’s website, but I’ve linked to a copy on Does it Echo. I particularly liked this one:

Dear Sir:
If it is any consolation, we feel that if we had hired you, by now we would have been forced to let you go.
Sincerely,
Personnel Department

At the bottom of Handey’s list is a very funny reverse-rejection letter, versions of which have been ubiquitous on the internet ever since.

Coming tomorrow:  Of course you should take rejection personally!

Over the weekend, I received another rejection letter.  It was typed on nice 20 lb bond, too — perfect for the crumple-and-lob that many of us serial rejectees depend upon.

Thing is, I never actually applied for this particular job.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Institution that Shall Not be Named. Where they’ll even reject you when you aren’t applying for their fucking jobs.

And thus I now grant myself (and you) an ENTIRE WEEK to rant about rejection letters, or rejection in general.  And then we’re going to move on to something else. Deal?

So let the fun begin!

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A note to my daughter, who occasionally reads my blog, and who so tenderly placed this unopened letter on my bed for me to find, face down because even she could tell what it was:  One of the best reasons not to swear, honey, is so that you can save these words for when you really need them.  But.  If you ever use this word in front of Grandma,  I shall send you to boarding school.
——-

Related Posts:
Rejection letters should not be emailed
I have not failed: I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work
There’s a bean stuck in my tiara

Ask A Manager wrote a nice post about rejection letters yesterday, and gives several examples of truly stupid ways that rejected applicants respond to them.

I still don’t like emailed rejection letters, though, and here’s why.

Email feels hasty and is too provocative

An email is too sudden and surprising. It even raises my hopes up, just a minute, when I first see it in my inbox… a request for more information, perhaps? The memo-like nature of email lacks a certain sense of closure, too. If it says “no,” is that REALLY their final answer??

Email also is more provocative than a letter, and therefore much more likely to invite a response from the recipient.  As AAM points out, this is rarely a good thing.

Email shows how cheap you are

The cost of postage and paper may be rising, but it’s foolish to quibble over 45 cents when your company’s public image is on the line. Nor does it require much more staff time to use mail-merge to semi-personalize a form letter than it does to correctly enter a bunch of email addresses.

Job searches cost money, and they should. They are one of the most important thing any organization does. The real cost of job searches are retraining costs, particularly if a company did a poor job of hiring and retaining good employees to begin with. Appearances matter here, so don’t make your company look like it can’t even afford stamps, let alone decent salaries for its employees.

Email feels disrespectful

I am never hasty, cheap, or disrespectful when I apply for a job, and I think I deserve at least a tiny bit of time in return for my own investment. You asked for my application, after all, and your rejection is painful enough.

Bridges can burn in either direction: “Employ” is a transitive verb

I’ve been beating this point half to death lately, but I need to make it one more time.  Ann Bares at Compensation Force has made it even better than I by pointing out that it is not the bad employees but the good ones who will leave a company if they are unhappy. The costs of a poorly-run job search will only multiply.  To keep good employees, you need to attract them in the first place. 

Word gets out.  Just as employers and recruiters share information with each other, you can be sure that employees and job applicants do as well.

At least the best ones do, and those are the ones you want.  Right?

I am willing to concede a few exceptions to my no-email rule.  Among them:

• The company is receiving unsolicited applications
• The application process is an online one, or
• The applicants are informed upfront that they will be updated via email.

Please send me a letter.  I want to see it and touch it. I will know what it is right away, but I want to be able to decide when to open it, and how to digest it.

And then I want to be able to crumple it up with great flourish and throw it away.
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Related posts:
Employers: It’s Your Turn to be Fabulous
Un-Fabulous Employers: Asking for Too Much Upfront
Blind Box Ads: Bad-Ass, or just Bad?