There's nothing to be scared of

"Do not let your fear of rejection restrict your range of opportunity."

As a rising senior at Vanderbilt, I have experienced a range of emotions toward my future career path. Freshman year: optimistic and open-minded. Sophomore year: confused and uncertain. Junior year: optimistic again and confident. Now at the end of my last summer as an undergrad, I am completely confident that I will find a job I excel at. I bring this confidence to every application I submit, every interview I attend, every potential employer I meet. The journey to this mindset was neither short nor pleasant; but I hope this article can give those entering the workforce or simply looking for another job sufficient motivation to apply for jobs they aren't sure they are qualified for and go into the entire application/recruitment process with confidence.

I am a huge believer in self-improvement. We all are born and raised with certain "talents" or skills that let us solve certain problems quicker than others. At any point in your life, you will be able to find both people that are objectively more skilled than you in certain areas, as well as people you are objectively more skilled than in other areas. Once you identify these areas, self-improvement is vastly easier to be actualized. You can continue working on your strengths, while learning and practicing your weaker areas more.

One of the best ways to identify job-specific skills to work on is to look through job listings you are interested in. Any decent job listing will list qualifications (or even traits) they are looking for in a qualified applicant. If you see a qualification or trait that doesn't seem to pertain to you, perfect! Think about how you can obtain that qualification or develop that trait. (If you are doubtful of your ability to develop a trait, I recommend doing some research on brain plasticity; pretty interesting stuff.) The best thing about self-improvement is that as long as you don't neglect your skills, they will remain with you throughout your life. They may even be useful in aspects of your life beyond being a more qualified applicant, such as building relationships and maintaining a well-balanced life.

At this point, hopefully it is evident that self-improvement is possible and has several beneficial effects; but now, you need to apply. As I see the application process through a few years of applying for part-/full-time jobs and internships, the first step is by far the easiest and requires little to no preparation if you have a suitable resume ready. To submit to most jobs I've looked at, you only need to give very basic information that will come almost exclusively from your resume. I find this step only takes 10-20 minutes to complete, which is well worth your time as a job-seeker. My suggestion for this step is to apply to ANY job you meet or nearly meet the very basic qualifications for, and it looks like an interesting or semi-interesting position. Personally, I have a wide range of interests and will apply to almost any position I come across that even tangentially matches my resume. Here are some little phrases to help guide you in this step in the process:

• Let the recruiters/hiring managers decide if you aren't qualified.
• Not all applicants will be "perfectly" qualified, and not all "perfectly"-qualified applicants will get interviews or offers.
• If you are never rejected from a job, you were not ambitious enough in the jobs you applied for.
• It is FREE to apply for a job that could possibly give you financial FREEDOM.

The next step is typically a phone interview or screening interview. If you are surprised you made it to this step, congrats! You have followed the advice that you should apply to jobs you may not be fully qualified for, and it has worked in your advantage. At this point, the employer thinks you could be right for the job. They don't give this more informal interview to everyone that submits an application. This shorter interview (typically, 10-20 minutes long) is geared toward finding out why you applied to the job and why you are qualified. If you applied to this job without a solid reason, no worries. Look through the job listing and find key phrases you connect with. Look through the company's website and other sources of company insights to find even more reasons you like this position and company. By the time this preliminary interview happens, you should be the most excited you've been about getting the opportunity to talk to someone from the company about this position. Again, here are some short statements to help your mindset going into this screening process:

• Believe that you can perform the necessary duties and your interviewer will, too.
• Ask questions about culture and day-to-day responsibilities that show a real interest in fitting in and filling the role.
• ANY time the interviewer mentions something that connects to your history or life (past job, class, personal anecdote, etc.) tell them a short story about how it connects.

If you are moved forward from this point, the company really wants you. They have narrowed it down to applicants they think can fulfill the role, and now just have to find one they personally think would work well within the company. At this point in my life, I can't offer too much more advice about the final interview process and offer negotiations. All I can tell you is that you should feel accomplished if you made it this far. Don't see rejection as a demotivating result. If anything, rejection opens more doors than acceptance. Now you can continue applying for jobs and getting those interviews, instead of possibly accepting their offer and being locked in to this role.

The main idea I wanted to share with this article is to not be afraid of your future career path. No one can predict where they will go in life professionally or otherwise; honestly, its just a waste of time and effort to try to see into your future. Apply to anything you might like, and let the employer decide if they want you. Get on as many radars as possible, and handle each "blip" with a genuine interest in the position and company. I guarantee you will be surprised by who takes an interest in you, if you just give them the opportunity to reject you.