Everyone Else Framed Their Degrees, But I Framed 3 Letters And Put Them On My Wall. Here’s Why

“Dear Mr. Murphy,” the first one began. “We appreciate your application, but unfortunately...” Plus 7 other things worth a click.

Lawyers love their trophy walls. But when I was practicing law in Washington at the U.S. Department of Justice, I did something different.

Among my awards and photos, in a place of honor, I framed and hung three letters.

These were the letters I'd received the first couple of times I'd applied for to work at Justice—my dream job back then, when I was just out of law school.

• Letter #1 was a rejection letter that arrived after I'd originally applied as a law student to the Attorney General's Honors Program at Justice.

• Letter #2 was another rejection letter, which reached me 14 months later, after I reapplied for the same job. Nope again.

• Letter #3 arrived a few months after that. This time, I'd broken the rules, skipped HR, and sent my application to a Justice Department official I'd met in an interview during Round 1. 

Fortunately, this third letter contradicted its predecessors, and it contained an offer for a job as an entry level trial attorney.

Some people don't like to admit that they'…