I’ve never really had to do much to get a job before…most likely because 1) I’ve never really had to HAVE a job (I’ll go into this more for my next post) and 2) I’ve just been plain lucky. But the last 2 months of this latest job hunt have been pretty rough.

I have become very good at taking rejection. I’ve heard everything from “we’ll be in touch” to “we’re pursuing other applicants” to “due to budget cuts we’ve decided not to hire for the position” and finally “the pay is $10/hour” (That price as a form of rejection).

They say job hunting is a lot like dating—it’s a numbers game. The more jobs you apply for, or the more guys you date, the better your chances are of finding what you want. But you also find rejection. Below are some of my past rejections that I can remember.

• “I don’t want to date anyone before my mission.” (He wasn’t leaving for another 18 months.)
• I think you should serve a mission.” (Still can’t believe he tried using the church as a way out of the relationship.)
• “I love you but I’m not in love with you.” (Please note that this was not a response to I saying ‘I love you’ to him.)
• “Don’t expect anything serious from me.” (See post Textual Difficulties)
• “So I like this girl….” (You are now entering the Friend Zone.)

And then there are the nonverbal rejections such as unreturned phone calls or emails or pretentious flirting with someone else. And last week I was actually stood up—I think—for the first time. A guy asked me to see a movie, and we agreed on a time and place—but he never called. The day went by, and the next, and I never heard anything.

But here’s what I’ve learned from this: I really don’t want these guys—or jobs.

How many times does a girl say to herself after a relationship is over, “I’m so glad he dumped me!” or “What was I thinking?”

The problem is we women have this estrogen-driven need to be loyal. We may want to have a better situation or date someone else, but our emotional wiring makes us cling to the status quo. It’s not until someone lets us go and we can see outside the relationship that we realize how miserable we actually were. Once an old boyfriend called me up and I even verbally thanked a guy for breaking up with me.

So I have a confession to make. About a half hour before the meeting when twelve of us got pulled aside and were told that the company would rather let us go rather than making smarter decisions about spending money (kind of like a girl taking the easy route by throwing up rather than working hard at the gym), I printed a posting for another job someone sent me. I’d been thinking about finding something new. The environment was getting rough, but I wasn’t really doing anything to get myself out of it. Thankfully, they did it for me.

So these rejections, they’re awesome. I welcome them. I thank them. They’ve done me a favor.

Dang it. I might have to go back to school to find a job and a husband.

**So if you’re on a date with Jenny you don’t have to worry about her throwing up the meal you just paid for. She tried to once, many years ago, and it didn’t work. She’s succumbed to going to the gym.