Planning Your Next Steps After a Job Rejection
- NP Recruitment Consultants
- Aug 18, 2023
- 2 min read
“When you set out to achieve something original and worthwhile with your life, sooner or later you will have to deal with rejection and criticism”
Mark McGuinness
The process of a job search can be grueling. Realistically, the perfect job does not just fall into your lap and the job search is often met with more rejection than acceptance. It is, however, important to never let the fear of rejection hinder your career plans.
At NP Recruitment one of our toughest jobs is informing a candidate that they have not been successful in a role and we ourselves have also had to handle personal rejection on our journeys before working here. Admittedly, after the latest ‘no’ it is very easy to give up and lose all hope, but it is so important to instead plan your next move forward:
Acknowledge your feelings
The first step is to acknowledge your emotions and grieve the rejection. It is completely normal to feel upset and dismissing your feelings is an unhealthy substitute for acceptance. Process your sadness so you can then fully move on or else these emotions will just pop up later at the wrong place and wrong time!
It’s nothing personal
Whilst it may feel like it, it is always important to maintain an objective stance on the event and understand that it is nothing personal! Job rejections happen to literally everyone at some point in their life and it is almost always a rejection purely based on professional decision-making. By taking job rejections personally, this will only intensify your anxieties in approaching the next job application.
Feedback is important
Once you’ve allowed yourself to psychologically process all that has happened, it is fundamental to ask the interviewer for feedback on the interview! Almost all companies provide feedback to unsuccessful candidates and it’s important to utilize that feedback into a tool to help transform the way you approach the next interview and the way you move forward with the entire process of job searching. Feedback is not only about finding out what you can change, but it is also a chance for interviewers to highlight your strengths that you can progress with.
Practice Resilience and Mindfulness
In his book, Resilience: Facing down Rejection and Criticism on the Road to Success, Mark McGuinness outlines that to conquer fear we need to accept the fear, because if it is to happen again then we are more prepared than the first time. Practicing and building resilience is pivotal in accepting rejection, and consequently never allowing rejection to stop you in your tracks.
While it is almost a certainty that you will face rejection from an employer at some stage of your career, you have the power to prevent rejection from hindering your career progression. WHEN (not if) you are ready, you can always rely on NP Recruitment Consultants to help you find that dream job of yours.
