Ever missed a goal because a technicality?

In My Humble Opinion
1

The past several years out of college have been a sequence of false starts for me.

First I worked at a tutoring center part-time in college. I wanted to be a manager there- required a BA. So when I graduated I applied as a manager. Now, this company advertises that they hire only 5% of people that apply for manager, but I honestly thought I would have an advantage because I worked there for three years, and some of the new managers (outside of internships) hadn’t worked a day in their life before being hired. I made it to the third and last interview, then didn’t get the job :confused: . It turns out my GPA wasn’t high enough- during the 3rd interview they actually pore over your transcripts and furrow their brow over every C+ they see.

I was really disappointed, but I didn’t let it stop me. Through applying for that job, I found out there was another, better tutoring position that required a BA, and my previous experience made me a perfect candidate. So I applied for that job and got it easily. However, it was still part-time, and I was looking for a full-time job. I decided to keep the job until I found something better (this was 2 years ago, still looking for a full-time job). So I applied for the credential program to work toward being a teacher, another goal of mine. I got a letter saying that I didn’t qualify for the program because my GPA was 0.02 short :smack: of the minimum requirement.

Granted, I probably could’ve taken 1 or 2 classes to pad my GPA and gone through the credential program, but I was impatient, wanted to move out of my parents house and start a career. I started working as a substitute teacher and combined with my tutoring job, had the combined hours of a full-time job minus the benefits or any decent raises.

I started moving in different directions, hoping that if I branched out I would be more likely to land a job with pay/benefits I wanted. I applied for the Coast Guard (once again hoping a BA would be an advantage). Unfortunately, I was medically disqualified because I had taken anti-depressants something like 8 years beforehand :mad:

I could go on and on. Everytime something like this would happen, I would feel really frustrated. Rather than persisting on accomplishing a goal if I failed once, I’d move on and try for something else. I started to feel really frustrated, as I saw other people get hired and settle into jobs so easily. I don’t believe in bad luck, so I really wondered what I was doing wrong- but with each job/goal, it was always something different that held me back, and while the thing was significant (need X.X GPA to get in no ifs, ands, or buts) I would always be so close to missing out. I recently took a test for another job, and unfortunately the biggest thing on my mind while waiting for results was, “I need a 70 to pass this test, so just my luck I’ll get a 68 or 69”.

Has anyone else had this happen? Where you don’t get hired/pass something, but its always by a very narrow margin? How do you cope? I’m worried that right now, my frustration with failing/giving up too easily is interfering with my ability to really land that job I want.

2

I did drop into the second fifth of my high school graduating class because of a few slackers who got caught drinking the night before graduation.

But a favorite story concerns a contract for an early Lear jet to be delivered. To get paid, Lear had to deliver the plane within the calendar year. They finally delivered it on December 31, according to the official receipt.

3

Hell, you want examples, just take a look at the New York State election law.

It’s very hard for a candidate to get on the ballot to begin with (you need a set number of signatures, with another set number of signatures from each county in the state to qualify for statewide office), but the nitpicking is mind boggling. You can be disqualfied for stapling petitions instead of using a paper clip (or the other way around – I forgot what the law specifies).

But the classic case was a few years ago. It was the final day to hand in your petition. The filing location opened at 8:00 am, and the candidate was there first thing to hand in his petitions. Trouble was, the law specified that petitions had to be filed between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 pm. He was disqualified.

4

I moved to a new town right out of undergrad to accept a teaching position. Because I didn’t have an education degree (just a degree in my field), I was going to work under a provisional certificate. AFTER I started the job the state board wouldn’t grant my provisional certificate because I didn’t have 2 key classes as an undergrad. I got booted, leaving me in an apartment lease I couldn’t afford, in a small town I’d never lived in, without a job.

Infuriating at the time–Later I went onto a successful but short (4 years) teaching career.

There’s tons more of things just like this, but you gotta persevere.

Many years and a couple of careers later, I’m a lawyer, so now that old “technicality” is nothing but a memory, and I daily (or at least more than I would like) get snagged by new technicalities. (legal procedure can be seen as a long series of technicalities)

But I don’t stress on them because I’ve made it through the life-altering ones.

Those early years of adulthood are frustrating, but as you get older, life gets much easier on those fronts. (of course, a whole 'nother set of problems arise.):wink: