Rejection
Rejection
“Unfortunately, at this time, we decided to proceed with our selection process with another candidate.” You’ve been anxiously waiting to hear back from the hiring team and those are the last words you hear from them.
Once you hear that statement over and over, it starts to get harder to keep the motivation going. Negative feelings are quite common during a job search and they respond to different names: rejection, frustration, discouragement, fear, anger, inadequacy, just to name a few.
Job searching is soul searching and requires time and energy. So often, candidates go through stages of impostor syndrome where they ask themselves “Would I ever be able to get a job?” Rejection energizes the feeling of inadequacy and brings people down.
Having a strategy in place to deal with rejection can help counterbalance the negative feelings and help a candidate stay focused on their goal.
When you’ve been rejected, ask yourself:
What happened? What part (or parts) of your job search is not working?
Are you networking? Remember that over 80% of jobs are found through networking. Only sending online applications without networking is a low return on investment strategy. Networking can widen the range of opportunities, provide you with feedback and alert of opportunities or target companies you have not thought about.
Did you get an interview? If you are passing the phone screening but not landing an interview you need to examine your communications’ strategy.
You were asked to make a presentation and had an opportunity to meet with the hiring team with whom you will be working. What did you learn? Is this opportunity a good fit?
Did you position yourself as a problem solver? Did you mention measurable accomplishments? Did your accomplishment stories highlight skills you would be using in the new job?
Looking for work is hard, it takes lots of mental, emotional and physical energy. Don’t get down, own it and move on.
Ask yourself “how can I turn this around and use it to my advantage?”
Staying positive, there are some strategies for you to use:
Be kind to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up if things are not going well. Review all the positive letters of recommendations/testimonials you have received
Set a time limit on how long you will allow yourself to feel “down” (no more than 1 hour). Laughter and exercise are great remedies for emotional release
One of the best ways to deal with your high and low emotions is to talk about them with people you trust. Let people help you brainstorm ideas, network for you and review your marketing materials.
Accept rejection as part of the process, everyone gets rejected at some point. Practice more and ask “what have I learned?”
Gather feedback from mentors, friends, family about your marketing tools
Request feedback, implement it and quickly recover
Do things that help you reduce stress and increase your energy. Walk, jog, work out, bike, dance, listen to your favorite music, meditate, read a book, draw/paint, build something, garden, take a bath, spend time with friends/family
Get perspective by helping others. Soon you’ll realize you are not alone, everyone struggles with something.
If you are looking for full-time work, consider taking part-time work. This can turn into a full-time opportunity. Just make sure you continue to allow time and energy for your search. Find volunteer work that will make use of your skills, develop transferable skills or work in projects you can use to demonstrate your skills in your next interview.
If you need help, I can assist you. Don’t give up!
Contact me and we can work together. Let’s get started!
Follow Telma Sullivan Career Coaching on Facebook and like the page.