Following My Own Advice

At this time in my life, part of my career is my work as a PhD student.  I recently applied for a summer funding opportunity in my department that I thought I was a shoe-in for.  My Advisor told me that she felt my application was very competitive, and she wrote a glowing letter of recommendation for me.  Last week I received the news that the funding went to someone else.  I'm not proud of my reaction, but the truth is that my immediate response was to cry "Foul!" - that underhanded politics were clearly at work.  I moved on from that attitude quickly to, "They just didn't understand my application because clearly I am the most qualified."

I was down in a funk for about a day and finally pulled it together.  After all, I am the Career Encourager.  So what would I advise me to do in this situation?  I began reading my past postings.  There is some good stuff there!  I've written before on what to do when you don't get the job.  I said it's important to be gracious and to accept the fact that if it's not a match on both sides then it's just not a good match.  I've also written about how if you don't get something you wanted, then maybe you didn't want it after all.  Here's the conclusion I've come to in my current circumstances:

First, I'm not going to second guess whether my application was good enough, if I could have worked harder/longer on it, or phrased things differently.  My Advisor reviewed it and said it was competitive. She's helped me write winning applications in the past, so I am going to accept her judgment on this one.

Next, I am going to run from the tendency to be suspicious and question the "politics" of the decision.  I've been on enough committees in my career to know that the criteria for what makes a "right decision" varies depending on the context.  Sometimes the right decision is the one that will have the most grass roots support.  Sometimes the right decision is the one the executive unilaterally deems is right.  It all depends on context.

Third, I'm going to humbly accept that in this case I am not a match. In hiring, often the right decision has to do with which candidate is a match for a particular context, not necessarily who has 3% more skills and is therefore "most qualified."  Those of you familiar with university funding procedures know that the concept of "match" is important in this arena as well.  Funders usually have very specific goals that go beyond funding students with the strongest academic record or the most experience.  There are a variety of reasons why the funding is spread around.  In this case, I was not the candidate who was the best match for the funder's goals.  I don't like it, but it's the truth.

Finally, I'm going to move on.  The best way to overcome a disappointment is to get busy on Plan B.  When I think about it, my whole career has been a combination of Plan B's and Plan C's with the occasional Plan A thrown in.  Overall I am pretty satisfied with how things are turning out, so I'm going to get busy with Plan B for my summer, and have a good time with it.  :-)

Comments

[Almostgotit]

Thanks for the post. Sometimes the best way to be encouraging is to admit that sometimes you get discouraged, too!

[HR Wench]

I have that song, "I get knocked down, but I get up again..." running through my brain after reading this post. :)

[Career Encourager]

I totally LOVE that song! That's going to become my new mantra to get me through this graduate school gig!

[MMG]

I think it is wonderful that your advice has helped you get over this funk. If you have found your own advice encouraging, then you know you are writing quality posts with the power to help others too. Glad to hear you are out of the funk, and moving on. Best wishes on Plan B!

[Jackie Cameron]

Next time someone tells me they did not get the job they went for and were sure they should have I will refer them to this excellent post! Thank you.
Above all - the hiring process is managed by a person. When studying HRM at University I recall being told that we have a tendency to hire in our own image ( people like us) and whilst that is not fair ( and possibly not very clever) I am sure it happens.
All the documentation, processes and procedures cannot take the human aspect out of the hiring!
Plan B might be way better than Plan A every was.
Keep smiling

[Jessica]

It's always a sign of being good advice when it is used by the person giving it, good post.