"We are sorry to inform you that your qualifications do not meet our standards."

There was a man who grew up with the standard plan. Go to school, get a job, buy a home, start a family. He graduated college and thought that the world owed him something. He applied for jobs thinking he would get it because he had a college degree.?Application denied. Application denied. Application denied. "Why will these companies not hire me? I'm the hardest worker they will ever hire! I have a college degree!"?

One day, he received a branded envelope in the mail for a job he thought he would surely get. At the time, he was living with his parents, and he called his mother over. "Mom! Come here! This is it!" His mom stood by his side with excitement as he opened the letter.?

"We are sorry to inform you that at this time, your qualifications do not meet our standards."

"How could they turn me down? It's a stock position. I have a college degree. I'm physically fit. I can lift boxes!"?His mom gave him a warm hand of comfort on his shoulder. His resume had a college degree, but it was not for retail. The company had its screening process, and for their reasons, they didn't want to offer a young college graduate an entry-level position.?He thought, "If they could only see me in action!" But his experience up to that point gave this company the impression that his previous actions wouldn't fit the required actions.?

Mark eventually got his first job out of college to be a busser at a restaurant, even though he applied to be a server. He asked why he couldn't start as a server, and they pointed out the lack of serving experience on his resume.

"You don't have any experience."

He asked if there was an opportunity to work his way up to a server. They said, "Yes!" That is all he wanted—a chance to prove himself. In Mark's mind, he was going to be the best busser the world had ever seen. Mark was great at it and found success through his attention to detail, guest-friendly personality, and efficiency. He was a team player. Mark believed in his responsibilities and made sure to bus tables as quickly as possible so that the restaurant could serve more guests every day. He caught management's attention, and they promoted him to a server. Mark would study tips and tricks online at home to apply them the next day. He wanted to be the best server ever and grow with the company. But then he ran into a bad manager, or a bad manager ran into him by crossing a physical boundary in a moment of stress, confusion, and frustration. Mark said: "I don't deserve to be treated this way. I think I'm going to go home." The manager replied: "Okay. Go then!" Before he could go, two other managers tried to stop him and calm him down. The most experienced server saw what happened and explained to the floor and general managers that the kitchen manager was wrong. They said it was unacceptable but asked Mark to consider taking a little breather and return to work. Some might think that Mark was being too emotional. But, Mark believed that his emotions gave him clarity. A company has its standards and he was willing to meet all of them; this was the first time that he realized he had his own standards. He knew that the company, the job, the location, the pay could all change, but his work ethic would stay the same. He was ready for another opportunity.?Mark made a critical error of quitting before having something else lined up in the heat of the moment.

Luckily, he got another job the very next day. The company was a carpet cleaning company, but he didn't have any experience, so he would have to start at the bottom and work his way up. The job was similar to being a busser; he would need to hustle so that the star players could handle their responsibilities more efficiently. Mark did very well, and soon, he was up for a promotion. He was up against another person for the promotion, and the instructions were that each person would run solo orders for a week, and the best person would earn the promotion. He crushed it! After that week, Mark was certain he earned the promotion. The following Monday, Mark received a call from the boss. "Hey Mark, it's boss! I just wanted to tell you that we are going with the other guy for the promotion." When Mark asked why the boss replied: "The other guy started two weeks before you, and we go by seniority here."

"Mark! Could you do me a favor? Stop talking! I know you are upset, and I would be upset too! But, you were lucky to get this job after you quit the last one so quickly. I'm not saying you shouldn't quit that job, but I am telling you to start looking for other jobs, and when you find another one, then you march into that place and put in your notice."

Employees check out when clear expectations turn out to be a rotten carrot. Before quitting, he talked to his father on the phone and told him how upset he was and that he would quit. His father showed him some tough love and said: "Mark! Could you do me a favor? Stop talking! I know you are upset, and I would be upset too! But, you were lucky to get this job after you quit the last one so quickly. I'm not saying you shouldn't quit that job, but I am telling you to start looking for other jobs, and when you find another one, then you march into that place and put in your notice."

Mark discovered the power of leaning on an inner circle for support and a bit of logic in moments of irrationality. Some time went by, and Mark couldn't find another job that would accept his prior work experience. He gave up hope until one day he received a tip to call someone who might be able to get him an interview for a sales job. Mark looked up the company and saw the job and qualifications. Rejected by so many places before for jobs that required fewer skills he felt that he wouldn't stand a chance. "No! I'm not even bothering. I'll never get the job. I have no experience. I've never sold anything before." He would never get an opportunity if the fear of rejection caused him never to try.

"No! I'm not even bothering. I'll never get the job. I have no experience. I've never sold anything before."

His girlfriend grabbed her computer and started typing out his resume. Mark refused to let her do that, so he grabbed the laptop and completed it himself. Before he knew it, he had interviews at two locations. Mark put on a suit and went to his first interview. The first interview was not going so well until one moment of luck. Presented with a challenging scenario, Mark didn't know how to answer it, so he just said what he thought would work. The interviewer heard this and probably thought that was the worst answer they ever heard. They were probably right. The other interviewer mistakenly took the answer as sarcasm and laughed in amusement. The person who laughed was the sales manager and wanted to work with Mark because she believed in teaching someone with raw talent the skills to make them successful. She was right, and Mark soon began his entry-level sales position with zero sales experience.?When Mark put in his notice, his boss tried to stop him by bashing the company that was hiring. "We clean carpets at that place and they never pay their bills. You think they will pay you?" If your employee is leaving you and the only defense you have is to bash the place they are going to, you've already lost! Mark did get paid there, very well. His yearly pay increased every year and eventually was making more than five times his earnings scrubbing carpets.

His work ethic never changed. When he would get home, he would study policy and procedure. With each sale, he gained more confidence. He was a student of the craft. As a landscaper, he knew how to push himself in the hot sun for six years. As a busser, he worked harder than the level of his minimum wage. As a server, he found passion in learning new skills. And as a carpet cleaner, he believed in the job even though most days required him to work in sewage water for low pay. Most people thought this new sales job was tough, but he knew what tough jobs were. He loved the competition and sales was something that didn't require physicality. Numbers have a way of showing everyone how hard you work.

"You can pull out the sword or put up the shield."

Mark gave it his all for years. He sacrificed his weekends off. He missed out on many parties with friends because he didn't want to go to work the next day in less than his best shape. Mark earned opportunities to travel to other states to assist places that were underperforming business standards. With no sales experience, he started from the bottom and worked his way up until one day; he was in charge of sales training for the entire company. Mark wondered why he didn't just get his job fresh out of college, but later in his career, he realized that he would not have lasted. He would have quit when things got tough, or a lousy boss did him wrong.?Sometimes, we have to go through things we do not want and can't understand. But each experience can be a lesson to draw on in the future to help us navigate our dream life. We can get mad at the companies that deny us by the words on our resume or we can use that as fuel and reward the company that does take a chance on us.?

Life isn't fair. There is always someone out there with more on their plate. People with hurdles you wouldn't wish on anyone. That doesn't mean that your road is easy; it means that you need to be aware of the hand you were dealt and understand that time doesn't move backward for anyone. As Mark's wrestling coach used to tell him, "You can pull out the sword or put up the shield."

Through our professional development, we need to understand that there is no such thing as burnout. Just moments you realize the target in front of you no longer requires your flame.?

Please don't blame the company; it doesn't revolve around you. Don't blame the boss; a victim mindset is a terrible place to live. Please don't blame the pay; as you read this, someone is in an interview for a job that will pay them more than they are currently earning or less to start with a much higher ceiling. That person knows what they are worth and are going for it. Take a second to ask yourself if what you are doing now is what you want to do for the rest of your career. If the answer is no, it's up to you to change directions and be willing to go after what you want.?

The worst thing they can say is, "We are sorry to inform you that your qualifications do not meet our standards." But until you hear those words, you don't even know that it might be the best thing that anyone or any company can ever tell you.?

Written by: Joe Kirby