Grief and the Summer Internship Search
Jared Johnson '01
Issue date: 5/3/00 Section: Features
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I have a friend who attends a top Ivy league business school in upstate New York who was having trouble finding a summer internship. He had been in the Navy prior to attending business school and, among other things, had difficulty convincing many of the marketing recruiters that an ex-Navy guy could fill the rah-rah, cheerleader brand management stereotype. However, his experience provides a nice case study of the human grieving and acceptance process as it pertains to the job search.
Jerrod Jonsson (name has been disguised) faced his first hurdle as he attempted to gain a place on the closed interview list of a number of marketing companies that were recruiting on his campus. At a CSO resume writing session, Jerrod heard that some students would hardly make it onto any closed lists. He looked around the room and wondered, "Who will those poor saps be?" Little did he know the sap would be him. He made it onto one interview list. After spending a ridiculously large number of points on open-list bidding, he gained two more interviews. Thus, for the first few weeks of interviews, Jerrod stood at the edge of his school's atrium and looked on enviously as legions of his peers passed by in blue suits on their way to the CSO. But, luckily, within two weeks or so, Jerrod's peers had all received offers at top marketing companies and were quickly dropping off of interview lists. Thus, by signing up for interview wait lists, Jerrod was able to interview with the dregs left over in the last couple weeks of interviews.
Perhaps Jerrod's resume had been weak, but he was sure as soon as he began interviewing he'd receive dozens of offers. Then one company called to reject him. Then he received a rejection letter. Then a rejection email. Pretty soon, he simply wasn't hearing back from companies at all! What was wrong with these places? They must have made some mistake! Jerrod was filled with disbelief, denial, anger and guilt. He had trouble sleeping, couldn't eat, couldn't concentrate and couldn't make decisions. He was in the SHOCK AND NUMBNESS stage (Stage 1) of the grieving process.
Jerrod Jonsson (name has been disguised) faced his first hurdle as he attempted to gain a place on the closed interview list of a number of marketing companies that were recruiting on his campus. At a CSO resume writing session, Jerrod heard that some students would hardly make it onto any closed lists. He looked around the room and wondered, "Who will those poor saps be?" Little did he know the sap would be him. He made it onto one interview list. After spending a ridiculously large number of points on open-list bidding, he gained two more interviews. Thus, for the first few weeks of interviews, Jerrod stood at the edge of his school's atrium and looked on enviously as legions of his peers passed by in blue suits on their way to the CSO. But, luckily, within two weeks or so, Jerrod's peers had all received offers at top marketing companies and were quickly dropping off of interview lists. Thus, by signing up for interview wait lists, Jerrod was able to interview with the dregs left over in the last couple weeks of interviews.
Perhaps Jerrod's resume had been weak, but he was sure as soon as he began interviewing he'd receive dozens of offers. Then one company called to reject him. Then he received a rejection letter. Then a rejection email. Pretty soon, he simply wasn't hearing back from companies at all! What was wrong with these places? They must have made some mistake! Jerrod was filled with disbelief, denial, anger and guilt. He had trouble sleeping, couldn't eat, couldn't concentrate and couldn't make decisions. He was in the SHOCK AND NUMBNESS stage (Stage 1) of the grieving process.