Rule 30

This is the second most important of all The Rules. Memorize it. This is what separates the Fairies from the Great Unwashed. The ability to let life’s major disappointments roll off our backs and bounce on the floor while staying focused on our goals is what characterizes the Fairies. My goal is to get a job – not any one particular job. As long as it makes me enough money to pay my bills, I could honestly care less for whom I work. Jobs are not about massaging my ego or reaffirming my worth in others’ eyes. They're a means to an end, which is my personal financial goals, plus anything else I care to accomplish in my personal life. Therefore, I don't get all caught up in whether or not a particular firm wants me.

In fact, I remember a company for which I interviewed. They called me quite some time after the fact to tell me I didn't get the job. They started out the call with endless compliments about how they'd been so impressed with my qualifications. I let them blather on for a bit, then cut them short by saying I was really happy in my current position. They yelped in surprise. How, they wanted to know, had I gotten another job so quickly in this economy? Little did they know... by the time they'd called, I'd already taken and was working at another job, and I was two days away from interviewing for the job I really wanted – and eventually got.

If they don't move heaven and earth to let you know you have the job, you don't have the job. Don't pursue them; that makes the rejection all the worse. Keep trying to develop leads, pursue job opportunities, and responding to position ads and recruiter calls. If you stay insanely busy doing these activities, you will barely have time to even register disappointment when someone says you didn't get the job. By then, you'll have one that pays the bills. Just accept what is, work on what you want to be, and don't waste time.