Wow it’s been a crazy month.

 Not quite as busy as the tail end of the first semester – but with both industry projects and elective projects due in two weeks, the heat is definitely on.

Added to that is the stress of having to find a summer internship in the thick of an economic slump that sees no reprieve.  Game companies are downsizing like they’re on Jenny Craig, and near half our cohort joined the program with the intention of someday working on that dream AAA title at one of the Vancouver shops.

For me, there’s the additional stress of moving apartments this weekend, but the payoff is immediate and immense. Oh man I hate our old apartment, with our dodgy, dope-selling neighbours who play Rock Band till 5 in the morning and the wiry old racist biker who thinks Chinese people are stealing his beer cans.  Our new apartment, in comparison, is like the QE2. If it had racing stripes and spinning rims.

Of course, I don’t know if I’ll actually get to spend any time in it this summer since I have no idea where I’m going to be working. Like everyone else, I’ve carpet bombed the tech and media industry around North America – still trying to keep it to jobs I’d actually want.

Which brings me to this: How annoying is it that most recruiters don’t reply back with a simple, “Thanks for your submission, but we presently don’t have a position for you”?

You know who does? The NFL. I’m sure if you’ve been reading this blog, you’re aware of my love of football and had to know I was going to apply for some of the internships offered by NFL teams.

And as a Kansas City Chiefs fan (yup, I’m booing myself), it took a lot to apply for a Publication Internship with our divisional rivals, the Denver Broncos. And while you’ll probably find a lot of Facebook status updates and Twitter tweets that have me mocking the Broncos for their coaching moves, dodgy play calls and suspect drafting, I want to go on record as saying this is a class organization that has won my respect.

Why? Not because they hired me. Because they didn’t hire me. And told me so promptly and professionally.

Here’s the e-mail I received a few days after applying for the position from a gentleman named Kyle Sonneman.

“Thank you so much for submitting your resume for our DenverBroncos.com/Publication internship. The number of outstanding resumes that we received blew us away. It is obvious that you have the passion and skills to be successful in this field or any field that you choose. Although you have an outstanding skill set, we have decided to proceed with other candidates for this position. Thank you again for your interest and best of luck to you now and in the future.

 - Kyle Sonneman.”

Now, of course this is an automated response. Of course it is. Mr. Sonneman likely sent out hundreds of these replies with the exact same wording to candidates across North America. And you know what? I love his organization because of it. What a well-crafted, articulate response!

Good for you, Denver Broncos – you’re the first one to go on record as saying you didn’t want me. Thank you for that simple courtesy, and for making me feel good in the process.  I can only hope you inspire other companies to show the same respect to someone asking for a seat at their table.

Of course, come September and the 2010 NFL season, the Broncos will return to their preordained place on my “hate” list. For now, damn, I just admire their professionalism.

Nick Lewis is a 1st year MDM graduate student. His hobbies include replaying, for his Bronco fanatic friends, that game-winning Dante Hall punt return from 2003 that allowed the Chiefs to beat the Broncos 24 - 23.