Entering into my internship period last year, I had two goals, one of them being to receive a communications internship with a professional sports team. Piece of cake, right? There was a specific position as a communications intern that was always advertised to my program, and in all the previous years someone from my program was selected. This meant the pool of applicants was small, my year had about 40 people in it, and I knew less than half would even apply. I liked those odds. Fast forward through the application process, I received an interview. I immediately thought, “This position is mine”. I had confidence in my experience, which kept me from even thinking about the possibility of not receiving the position. Then it happened, I received an email letting me know another candidate had accepted the position. I had lost, but wait, losing ended up being the best thing that could have happened to me. Let me tell you what I mean…
Here is the thing about losing; it forces you to work harder. Once you lose you have to go back to the drawing board, you have to prepare, and you have to put in a hell of a lot more work. Losing is humbling, it forces you to reflect and learn, and it makes winning a little sweeter.
So after thinking it would have been better if the whole world ended, and going through all of the stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, if you are not familiar), I went back to the drawing board. I asked for feedback from the hiring manager and received tips on how I could have improved my interview. I forced, well politely begged, six managers at my current internship to tear my resume apart, allowing me to completely revamp it. I made a list of communications directors at each professional team and I started emailing them as if the world, again, was about to end. I just kept emailing them, and following up, and emailing them again, leaving out the unsubscribe button. Despite having too many emails to count that lead to nothing, I certainly was getting some bite on others. I just kept moving forward.
I took a lot from that loss. I came out with a resume that was night and day from the original resume I had applied with. Despite being confident with that first resume, I had a long way to go and I still do, but it was the loss that helped me realize the flaws in my resume. I look at that first resume and can’t believe how bad it was. I am still working on my apology letter to the first hiring manager for making them read that thing. Woof. I came out with a larger network, having met and corresponded with so many people before finally landing a position. After accepting a position, I actually received multiple more emails for interviews and phone calls from organizations I had been constantly emailing all summer. Those actions really had worked, even though at times I felt like nothing was. I came out with more interview experience, that’s always a plus. And importantly, I came out with more confidence, in a lot of different areas. It takes confidence to put yourself out there and send vast amounts of emails to people whom you want to work for. That can be pretty scary stuff. In the end, I came out with more confidence in trusting the process. Something I will need to always fall back on throughout my career. Patience, believing in yourself and that everything happens for a reason is sometimes difficult to practice.
Losing meant I needed to take a long and windier road to reach my goal. From working harder, I learned more than I ever would have had I just reached my goal immediately. Would I have loved being the candidate chosen originally? Absolutely. But ultimately, I was better because of it.
I ended up in a fantastic position with an incredible organization. I don’t even know if the words “fantastic” and “incredible” as descriptive words can do it justice. It was a paid position, which is truly unheard of in this industry. I had the best managers, ones that made me better, and ones I will continue to admire and learn from. I was valued. I loved the position and felt challenged by it everyday.
And all of that is a win.
Losing really is winning. So get out there and lose!
Sara
