One of the hardest parts of any job search is rejection. No one likes being turned down, especially if you really wanted the role or you did a lot of preparation.
The thing is, how you deal with rejection is critical. If you let it affect you on a personal or emotional level, you can stress yourself out and make the entire process harder.
In this article, we’re examining how to work through job rejection, how to deal with rejection in a constructive way and how to turn that rejection into future success.
How to work through job rejection
A big part of working through a job rejection is having the right mindset. If you approach the situation head on, you can deal with the setback and move forward.
If you’ve experienced a job rejection recently, here are the steps you can take to recover and work towards your next employment opportunity:
Ask for feedback
One of the best ways to move past rejection is to understand why it happened in the first place. You should always ask for feedback from any employer that you apply for as you can use this valuable information to ensure you’re more successful going forward.
Don’t be afraid to ask employers for detailed feedback – in most cases they’ll be happy to help. It’s always useful to understand exactly where you went wrong – as well as why it went wrong. You may find that you had an issue at the application stage, which means you may change the roles that you apply for going forward.
In other cases, you may find you went wrong at the interview stage, which means you need to look at how you’re approaching interviews and your general attitude during interviews.
Finally, don’t take feedback personally. While it’s easy to get defensive, you want to practise a positive mindset as this will keep you motivated going forward.
Realise everyone experiences rejection
It’s important to understand that being rejected for a role happens to thousands of people every day. Chances are you’re working in a competitive market and employers are increasingly choosy, especially with so many businesses focusing on culture. Knowing that you’re going through the same experience as other people may offer some comfort.
In many cases, applying for a new role is a numbers game. You’ll find that many hiring managers or employers will only spend a few minutes scanning a CV, especially for a competitive role, which means they may miss certain information. This is why it’s so important to create an engaging CV from the outset – so you can stand out from the crowd and engage people during the screening process.
So next time you experience job rejection, remember that you’re not alone and if you keep persisting, you’ll find the right opportunity for you!
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Build a personal development plan
A great way to bounce back from a rejection – and keep yourself busy during a job search – is to build a development plan. If you ask for feedback and reflect on what happened during the application, you’ll typically have all of the information you need to build an effective development plan.
Ask yourself useful questions: What should you prioritise in your development? Are there any recurring challenges or issues you’ve faced during your search? What skills do you need or keep cropping up in applications?
Once you have these answers, you can develop a plan on how to reach your goals. What training or courses will help you build out these skills? Is there anything in particular that you need to work on that has been specifically mentioned?
You should always be looking to maintain your career development but especially during a job search, which can be a demoralising experience if you go through several rejections.
Refine your job search
While it’s always disappointing to experience rejection, sometimes the process can also make you realise that the role wasn’t actually the right fit for you. It’s always worth re-reading the job description or the specification to see what parts of the role actually piqued your interest and which – on reflection – didn’t feel like an ideal fit.
Once you’ve taken the time to go through this, use your findings to refine your job search. You may adopt a keyword system where you run through specifications and proceed based on whether or not they include certain keywords. Likewise, set your own expectations and boundaries. If you want a certain thing from a role, don’t compromise on it.
Create a system
Some people believe in creating a system for their job application process, as it can help you develop pattern recognition around both success and failure.
You’ll typically keep track of the positions you’ve applied for, the various feedback you receive and the areas it covers.
This can help you understand how you approach the application process, whether you need to build certain skills and if you’re missing work experience that would benefit you going forward.