2.4 Learning from each attempt
As with any job application, you need to get used to being unsuccessful. It is estimated that it can take up to 80 job applications before some people receive an offer (Zippia, 2022). There are thousands of experienced applicants out there, so the important thing is not to worry when you aren’t successful, and instead try to learn from your experience.
Activity 5 Making rejection positive
Think about a time when you faced rejection. What did you learn from it? How did you use this experience to help you improve in the longer term, or how could you use it in the future?
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Rejection can be difficult, especially if you felt that an interview had gone well. Developing coping strategies and learning is an important part of building your resilience. Watch the video Job Rejection: How to deal with Rejection [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] on YouTube, in which Cindy Makita-Dodd, co-founder and COO of PEMA, suggests a four-step approach to handling rejection:
- Recoup
- Reason
- Redirect
- Rise.
Sometimes you will receive feedback from the employer as to why you did not get the job. This can range from not having enough relevant experience on your CV, to the quality of answers you gave at interview, or simply that they had a very large and strong range of applicants. Hopefully they can give you some useful information (if not, you can always ask) which you can then take forward for other roles. Be sure to update your CV/cover letters with any new information, and try to improve on your interview technique based on any feedback you are given.