The Rejection Room#UnfilteredProfile
A vast, bright white room: a framed sign reading The Rejection Room high on the wall, one red leather interview chair centred below it, a tall leafy bird-of-paradise plant, a white curtain tied back in one corner, and tall windows on both sides looking onto an Amsterdam canal

TheRejectionRoom

#UnfilteredProfile

Enter

Every shining profile has a story behind it.

Real stories of rejection, told as openly as we tell our successes.

Send your story For leaders

#UnfilteredProfile · Founded by Dr. Praddy Kaushik

Stories from the room.

Every story here will be real, and every writer chooses whether to sign it.

Opening soon

The first stories are being collected.

We are inviting founders, CEOs, researchers and job seekers to send the no they never posted. The first stories will appear here, each one published only with its writer's yes.

Be one of the firstLeaders' Edition

Browse by room

The Job Search RoomApplications, final rounds and "other candidates".Waiting for its first story The Research RoomPapers, grants, fellowships and short contracts.Waiting for its first story The Career Change RoomStarting again in a new field or a new country.Waiting for its first story The Founders RoomPitches, investors and ideas that did not work.Waiting for its first story The Leadership RoomCEOs, CTOs and the no's that came before the corner office.Reserved for the Leaders' Edition

Why this room exists.

Three numbers from the founder's own journey.

10months of applying, preparing and showing up, with almost the same reply each time.
1,000+applications, in one junior's late-night message: "Ma'am, I'm losing hope."
0of those moments made it onto anyone's feed. Until now.

Rejected, then remembered.

The world's most shining profiles were built on a pile of no's. These are on the public record.

217of 242

Investors who said no

Howard Schultz pitched 242 investors for his first coffee company. 217 turned him down. He later built Starbucks.

Source: Wikipedia ↗
2

Job rejections in 2009

Brian Acton was turned down by Twitter and then by Facebook. In 2014, Facebook bought the company he co-founded, WhatsApp, for $19 billion.

Source: The Next Web ↗
7

Investor rejection emails

Brian Chesky published seven investors' rejections of Airbnb's early pitch, to show founders that a no is not the end.

Source: Brian Chesky on Medium ↗
10

Times rejected by Harvard

Jack Ma has said he applied to Harvard ten times and was rejected every time, before he founded Alibaba.

Source: Entrepreneur ↗

Publicly documented stories. These leaders are not affiliated with The Rejection Room. Their no's are part of why it exists.

The Leaders' Edition

Your wins are already public. Your no could change a life.

For founders, CEOs, CTOs and the people others look up to. One honest story from you tells thousands of people that the "no" part of a career is normal, and survivable.

You approve every word.Nothing goes live until you read the final version and say yes.
Your face, your choice.Publish with your photo, as a silhouette, or fully anonymous.
Withdraw any time.Ask once and your story comes down. No questions.
No ads. No sponsors.Your story is never sold, sponsored or used to sell anything.
  1. 01Tell it.Ten minutes with the form below, or ask for a private 20-minute conversation with Dr. Praddy Kaushik.
  2. 02We edit. You approve.Your words stay yours. We shape them and send you the final version first.
  3. 03It goes live.Your #UnfilteredProfile is published, with a cover you can share on LinkedIn.
Create your #UnfilteredProfile Request a private conversation

Your #UnfilteredProfile.

Every profile shows the wins. Build the other side, with your photo or without it, and see your cover come to life.

0/140 · This becomes the headline of your cover.

The Rejection Room#UnfilteredProfile
The Leadership Room

"The no you never posted."

Your nameYour role

What it taught you.

#UnfilteredProfileEvery shining profile has a story behind it.

Nothing you type or upload leaves this page until you press Send. Send opens an email to Dr. Praddy Kaushik with your story; attach your photo or the downloaded cover there. You approve the final version before anything is published.

Meet the founder

I started this room because I was sitting in that chair.

Dr. Praddy KaushikFounder, The Rejection Room · Netherlands
Read why I built thisConnect on LinkedIn

I'm Dr. Praddy Kaushik, a researcher in geospatial science and data visualisation, based in the Netherlands. On paper, my profile shines. Behind it are ten months of applications and the same reply, again and again: "We've decided to move forward with other candidates."

Then one night a junior wrote to me: "Ma'am, I'm losing hope. I think I've applied to more than a thousand jobs." I realised how alone we make people feel when we only post the wins.

The Rejection Room is where the other half of every career gets told, by students, researchers, founders and CEOs, with a name or without one. Because the people still waiting deserve to know they are not the only ones.

Dr. Praddy Kaushik

Our missionMake rejection as visible as success, so no one feels alone in the "no" part of their journey.

Three rules of the room.

  • OneListen first.Give advice only when someone asks for it.
  • TwoNo judging. No comparing.Every story here is someone's real life.
  • ThreeNothing leaves without a yes.Stories are shared only with the writer's permission, named or anonymous.