If you’re looking for a job right now, it’s likely that you will experience rejection along the way. Of course, no one enjoys rejection and when you apply for a job you do so with the sole hope that the process ends with you starting a new role. It can also feel personal, painful even to feel that you were in some way “not chosen”. You might feel disheartened or unmotivated, just at the point that you need to be full of confidence, self-belief and enthusiasm to bowl over potential employers or stay motivated to keep applying for further roles.
Undoubtedly this is the most challenging aspect of the job hunt for anyone!
Given that you are going to meet rejection at some point on your journey, we thought it would be useful too look at ways to better understand, work with and grow through a rejection.
You really don’t suck
1 Take time to recognise your emotions
It’s important to let yourself feel whatever emotions come through, it might be disappointment, fear, a sense of being personally rejected, whatever it is, let them move through you. It’s ok to feel grief for opportunities that are gone. This is a challenging process and it’s important not to make emotions wrong, but let them be felt, so that you can forward into whatever’s next, without hanging on to the past.
2. Can you think about the rejection differently?
As individuals our first reaction to rejection can be to see it as a personal failure, to think that it means you’re not good enough. The truth is, hiring applicants is never personal and always focused on who proves to be the best fit for the role. It might not seem like it at the time, but you can choose how you view rejection.
For example, not getting the job might mean that:
This wasn’t the right opportunity for you and there’s a better one down the line.
You were in the top 3, out of 200 applicants, but in the end, it came down to a really small advantage from another applicant.
You didn’t quite perform as well as you would have liked, but next time you know what to change.
You did great, but the competition was high and this time it went to someone else.
It’s just a numbers game and you are going to have to apply to quite a few jobs before you get to the right one.
It’s always a good idea to request feedback, but even with that, we can’t always know exactly why it wasn’t an acceptance. If you always work towards growth and improvement, you can also choose to believe a more empowering version of the truth that supports you moving forwards.
3. Focus on what you can change, not what you can’t
We can get caught up in the enormity of the task when it comes to job-hunting – the numbers of people who might be involved, the opinions of the hiring managers and recruiters, the likelihood that you might have succeeded…and so on.
When it comes down to it, there’s only one area that you really have influence over in the job-hunting process – YOU. That includes the job-hunt tools that you use, your interview performance, your skills and experience and how you might follow-up with the organisation. If you can let go of all the things you can’t control and focus on what you can, you can let go of a lot of stress and worry and instead concentrate on improving your offering as you go.
4. Seek out support from others
The job-hunt journey can be isolating, lonely and filled with disappointment, to support yourself through it, it can be helpful to connect to others who have been or are in a similar situation to you. Talking to people who have faced job rejection can help make you feel less isolated, normalise the experience and they can offer advice on how they overcame it.
This is exactly why we have focused on building community with The Hub online job-hunting platform – you will always have access to people who are going through exactly the same transit as you and also have access to expert advice and support to help you move through these challenges.
5. Say thank you/ ask for feedback
Sending a thank you email after a job rejection can be beneficial. Use this opportunity to build your network, ask for feedback, and request to be considered for future opportunities. Getting feedback will give you valuable insight into areas of your application that might benefit from improvements.
Contact with a thank you after interviews – it helps to grow connections
6 Reflect on how you might improve
Whatever the outcome of your interview, it can be useful to take a few minutes to think about how you could have answered questions differently, or how you could have improved your presentation skills. If you felt nervous during the interview, practice presenting to others before your next one. Similarly, make a list of any questions you struggled to answer and research how you could have responded better.
7. Give yourself a mindset boost
If you need a motivational boost, it can be great to look at the areas you excelled in and remind yourself what makes you a great candidate. Look for, or ask for evidence from team members, past colleagues, line managers etc of what you are really good at as an employee. In addition to the encouragement this might give you, it could be useful to highlight the stronger aspects of your offering for future applications and interviews.
8. Celebrate your successes
So, we are talking rejection and it might seem a little strange to mention success, but just because you didn’t get the job, doesn’t mean that you didn’t do well in some areas. Celebrate the aspects that you are proud of, or even just the fact that you’ve come this far – job-hunts take time, energy, patience, hard work and dedication. Celebrating what’s gone well, will help to support a more positive mindset, but also anchor in the mindset and behaviours that got you to this point. Our minds tend to focus on the negative, so actively looking for the positive can really change how we view ourselves and the motivation we feel.
9. Take a break when you need it
Job hunts can be a tiring process and require resilience and stamina. Sometimes, a break or adding extra self-care can support you to build more energy and keep you going through the process. Check in with yourself regularly and make sure you’re giving yourself what you need.
10 Come back stronger!
You didn’t get the result you wanted, but just think what else you’ve gained. You’ve got more experience, insight into an organisation, you’ve had more interview practice, you’ve got insight into what hiring managers might be looking for, you’ve (hopefully) had feedback, you’ve spent time on your strengths and you’ve reflected on your performance. It’s time to use everything you have now to do even better with your next application!
Enduring job rejection can be a painful and depleting experience, but it can also be a chance to learn and become a better applicant.
Give yourself time to manage your feelings, contact people you know, thank the hiring team in an email, think about what you could have done differently, concentrate on your skills, and come back stronger.
Remember that every you action you take will help you get even closer to getting the job you really want.
