How Rejection Garden works

The idea

Every application you send is a seed. As it moves through the process, it grows - a reply sprouts leaves, an interview buds, an offer blooms gold. A rejection blooms too, just a different color. The point isn't to hide the no's, it's to make the whole effort visible, courage included.

Getting started

Plant an application - from the Applications tab, add one at a time or import a whole spreadsheet at once (importing is available on desktop only, since it involves picking a file from your computer). Haven't actually sent it yet? Check "I haven't submitted this yet" instead, and it goes on your Watchlist rather than the garden - filter to Watchlist any time, and mark it Applied the moment you do.
Update its stage - open any application and use the Update stage tab as things move (a reply, an interview, an offer, a no). Pick the date it actually happened, not just today.
Fill in the timeline - the Timeline tab's "Edit interview timeline" tool lets you backfill or correct dates along the way, including your applied date and custom stages that don't fit the usual list.
Tag and flag - add your own tags to any application for filtering and search, and check "This came through a recruiter" to keep a name and contact alongside it.

Around the site

Garden - the visual overview: every plant, at a glance. The timeline beside it lists every event in order; hover a row to see exactly which plant (or gift) it belongs to. The Garden key (🔑) explains what every color and shape means, and "Your season so far" below the canvas breaks the whole season down further, including a branching tree of how every offer, interview, and rejection played out.
Applications - the private list: search, filter (including a Watchlist filter), filter by tag, sort, export the applications currently shown to a CSV file, and manage everything.
Garden Log - the full catalog of flower varieties, common to rare, plus a tally of every gift a visitor's ever left you.
Achievements - small milestones along the way, from your first seed to your hardest-won no.
Community Garden - connect with someone whose garden you'd like to visit regularly. It's always mutual, and there's no feed or follower count to keep up with.

Gifts and tipping

Visiting someone else's garden, you can leave something for it - pick a small gift, an optional note, and whether to sign it or leave it anonymously. If Rejection Garden's been useful to you, the tip jar in the header links out to a few ways to say thanks; each opens a QR code you can scan with your phone, plus a plain link.

Privacy

Company names, roles, links, salaries, locations, and notes are always private - only you ever see them. If you share your garden, visitors only ever see the plants growing, never what's behind them. From "Share my garden" you choose who can see it at all - private, or link-only for anyone who has your link - and you can generate a new link any time to cut off an old one.

Settings overview

Date & time format - DD/MM/YYYY with a 24-hour clock, or MM/DD/YYYY with a 12-hour clock. Applies everywhere a date or time shows up.
Auto-mark silent applications - if an application sits at Applied or Open application with no reply, automatically move it to No response after 2 weeks, 1 month, or 3 months (or leave it off).
Chrome extension - generate a token and paste it into the Rejection Garden browser extension to log applications straight from a job posting. Regenerate or disconnect it any time.
Email - change the address you sign in with and receive account emails at.
Password - set a password if you signed up through Google or LinkedIn and want to also sign in with email, or change an existing one.
Delete account - permanently deletes your garden, every application you've logged, and everything else tied to the account. This can't be undone.

Something wrong, or an idea?

Use the Feedback button any time - it goes straight to the person building this.