After working for nearly a decade as an editor at The New Yorker, and winning multiple awards as a features reporter for the Chicago Tribune, Emily Nunn knows her way around print journalism. No doubt, she also understands rejection is the price one pays for a lifetime of pursuing journalism. Still, there are some rejections that hit below the belt.
Nunn, whose memoir The Comfort Food Diaries: My Quest for the Perfect Dish to Mend a Broken Heart was named NPR’s Best Books of 2017, took to Twitter to share a hysterical and sad rejection she received for a newspaper job.
The rejection letter reads:
Hi Emily, thanks for applying for the open positions in Style. Unfortunately we are looking for people who have a broader range of experience and a significant number of years at a well-known publication. Keep writing! Good luck with your career.
I just got this letter RE a newspaper job I applied for. I worked for over a decade at the @NewYorker and 7 years at the Chicago tribune, where I won the EIC’s award for best writer of the year for my wide ranging features. My book is on a large number of best of lists. I am 57. pic.twitter.com/5OiX3zS2wW
— emily nunn (@EmilyRNunn) July 17, 2018
Twitter users couldn’t decide which part was the best or worst.
I think the exclamation point is the icing on the cake.
— Julia Platt Leonard (@Juliapleonard) July 18, 2018
This is obviously a form letter, but geez. “Good luck with your career”?!?! You aren't 25 yrs old!
— Raquel Laneri (@RaquelLaneri) July 17, 2018
Maybe one day the @NewYorker will finally become a well-known publication. Fingers crossed!
— Kim Severson (@kimseverson) July 17, 2018
You know what ELSE is annoying me about that note? “Unfortunately.”
— Mark Caro (@MarkCaro) July 17, 2018
Have you considered an intern position? Maybe doing some pro-bono work for the exposure? I'll tell you what – if you write a great piece for me for free I'll tell all of my friends about you. You're bound to make serious money after that
(hoping the sarcasm comes through)
— Dave Fravel (@dfravel) July 17, 2018
God, I could try for weeks to craft something as nonchalantly, dickishly patronising as 'Keep Writing!'. Incredible.
— Livvy Potts (@_Poots_) July 17, 2018
Other creative people could sympathize.
Sexism and ageism. Sorry. It sucks. Wonder if it will ever get better.
Kathy (also 57) Griffin— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) July 17, 2018
OMG, as a 56-yo journalist with a decent resume, I am laughing & crying. I am not alone. TY for sharing.
— Nancy Colasurdo (@nancola) July 17, 2018
They meant to send you the “you’re overqualified,” ageist rejection letter. Clearly their loss. But who’d want to work in an environment that doesn’t value actual experience?
— Amy Worden (@inkyamy) July 17, 2018
Gross.
— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) July 17, 2018
While others shared their own rejection horror stories.
At least they sent the rejection letter once. Early on out of college I applied for a job at Nickelodeon and they sent 30 rejection letters in 2 minutes. They apologized later, but I would have preferred an interview.
— Jesse Kale (@KaleJesse) July 18, 2018
Pure ageism. I had similar reject from “young” agency for a pretty easy consult job. Said “looking for someone with more agency experience” (I owned digital agency 12 yrs, ran global mktg/sales for a Publicis holding, and have 20+ yrs digital mktg #bullshit
— Dana Todd (@danatodd) July 17, 2018
I feel your frustration deep in my bones. I received an auto-respond rejection email the other day for a part-time proofreader position at a publishing house. The msg implied I was under qualified. After more than 20yrs as a professional writer and editor. Maybe I’ll frame it …
— Erin Rooney Doland (@erdoland) July 17, 2018
At least Nunn kept her sense of humor.
I feel like there is a “toots” implied at the end of this email.
— Brie Loskota (@brieloskota) July 17, 2018
So funny, yes! Wearing a porkpie hat that says PRESS.
— emily nunn (@EmilyRNunn) July 18, 2018
omg keep writing!!!
[laughs]
[cries]
[lights a Virginia Slim]— Lauren Elyse Garcia (@lolitaelyse) July 17, 2018
Light a joint
— emily nunn (@EmilyRNunn) July 18, 2018
“Keep writing—just not for us!”
— Conan the Grammarian (@TheFallow) July 17, 2018
Hahahahaha!!’
— emily nunn (@EmilyRNunn) July 18, 2018
This made my millennium! https://t.co/MYbXJ5AXd3
— emily nunn (@EmilyRNunn) July 19, 2018
With over 20,000 likes so far, something tells us Nunn won’t be looking for work for long.
H/T: Twitter, The Gannett
