No one likes to have job rejection during the job search process. Especially, after all of the work it took just to apply for the position in the first place. Job rejection can be very discouraging and take away any motivation you had to keep applying.
A job rejection letter doesn’t have to be the end of your story. Learning how to effectively deal with job rejection will make you more resilient and ultimately successful in landing your dream job. Here are the 7 ways you can use to make job rejection a breeze.
![Job rejection](https://thrivingindependently.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Job-rejection-1024x683.webp)
What to Do When You Get A Job Rejection
The first thing that you should do after you receive a job rejection is seek out feedback. After completing all the steps that LinkedIn recommends you to do when applying for a job, you may be asking “Why on earth was I rejected?”
Seeking feedback through hiring personnel, successful applicants, or forum research online can give you a much better idea about why you were rejected.
These can be used as learning lessons to enhance your job application strategy. The result of this extra research will not only help you become more successful with each application you submit but also decrease the amount of time you spend applying.
Factors That Increase the Likelihood of Rejection
There are many reasons why you may experience job rejection and many of them are out of your control.
You can’t change the fact that the hiring team may have found the potential candidate just before they reviewed your application. You also can’t change the fact that your competition may have 10+ years of experience over you.
This still shouldn’t stop you from taking the chances anyway.
However, there are several factors that you CAN control, that may lead to you receiving more job rejections than you would like to admit.
- Applying to jobs with high competition
- Applying to jobs through popular job board websites
- Having no strategy when applying
- Having no direction when applying
- Not having a specialty
- Not reading the job posting thoroughly
- Not having a referral when applying
These factors can all increase your likelihood of receiving job rejections during the job search process. While these are hindrances to your job search, they do not make finding a job impossible. Finding a way to solve these issues will give you vastly different results when you seek employment.
Why Does Job Rejection Hurt So Much?
Job rejections hurt a lot because they are tied to what you have presented as your best and most relevant work. When you apply for anything, you put forward your best work. It is easy to become emotionally tied to your hard work; however, the job search process can and will test you.
It feels as if someone is saying that are best is not enough when we receive job rejections. In reality, this may not be the case at all. It is more likely that the company found another applicant whose experience was a better fit for the role.
Is it Still Possible To Get Hired After Being Rejected?
Absolutely! It is absolutely possible to get hired after being rejected.
I have personally seen stories of people who were rejected the first time at a company and then hired during the next cycle.
A rejection is not a determining factor of your future success in acquiring interviews or other job offers. Try treating each application as an independent event.
While it is good to learn and grow from the rejections you receive, you shouldn’t focus too much on getting rejected.
After all, the person who keeps applying has the highest chance of getting a job!
How Do You Overcome the Disappointment of Job Rejection?
Job rejection can be a shot straight to your ego, especially when it comes from your dream job. Recognizing that this was not your opportunity to take right now will make accepting job rejection much easier.
You have to have faith that your chance will come and prepare for that instead of wallowing in the despair of one job rejection.
![Job rejection letter examples](https://thrivingindependently.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Job-rejection-letter-examples-1024x683.webp)
Focus on What You Can Control
When facing job rejection, the best thing that you can do is focus on the things that you can do and control.
Spending time worrying or doubting yourself because of a poor interview will not help you succeed in the next interview.
Here are some things that you can control when faced with job rejection.
- Your will to keep applying
- Your emotions
- The quality of cover letters you write, or adding cover letters if you haven’t already.
- Maintaining a good relationship with the hiring team after you receive the rejection with a thank you email.
- Research what an example resume looks like for your field.
All of these examples can be more productive uses of your time as you receive job rejections.
It is normal to feel discouraged and sad when things don’t work out. The important part to remember is that you do have a goal and it is important that you continue applying until you receive your job.
Know that Job Rejection Is A Part of the Process
Receiving rejection letters during the job search process is very normal. Unless you were scouted and asked to apply for the job, the company hiring is always at an advantage.
The sooner you can become more comfortable with rejection, the less attached you will become to each job posting. This can be greatly beneficial because you will spend less time on individual applications and notice more trends across the applications you submit.
Job rejection also varies greatly by industry. If your skills are in high demand, you decrease the chance of receiving a job rejection.
Please know that the job market has not been kind to many people and that you will gain a lot of practice with being persistent and resilient.
It Could Be a “Not Right Now” Instead of “Never”
You have definitely heard this phrase before and the phrase applies to job rejection perfectly. For those who have not become accustomed to hearing the word “no”, rejection can be taken quite hard.
When you look at a situation from a greater context, it becomes more apparent that it may not be the right time or that there is a better opportunity better suited to your strengths.
Each job rejection you receive is not definite and won’t prevent you from breaking into the industry. There is always more than one way to accomplish a goal and learning to be flexible with your plans will benefit you greatly in your job search.
![Rejection letter job](https://thrivingindependently.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Rejection-letter-job-1024x683.webp)
Opportunity to Ask for Feedback
As you grow up and learn more about the world, you come to know that the only difference between optimists and pessimists is the frames that they use.
You can have both types of people experience the exact same event and they will recount a different story. In the job searching process, you will find being an optimist much more beneficial.
Seeing job rejection as an opportunity versus a closed door can help you withstand the rejection, and hone your skills and knowledge about what the interviewers prefer to see and hear during the interview process.
There are not many free opportunities that allow you to be in contact with the people you desire to work with and have these people look over your resume. Especially, if you get to an interview stage.
The hiring team is the people who can tell you exactly what they are looking for and explain why you were not the best fit.
This is valuable information!
Asking for feedback is one of the easiest ways to improve your efficiency in job searching.
You Are Not Alone
This was alluded to earlier but bears repeating. You are not the only one receiving job rejections. You are not the only one who hasn’t heard back from your dream job and it has been weeks.
Just look at Reddit! There, you will quickly find a cynical group of people complaining about the current job market.
If you are looking for someone to rage with, you probably don’t need to look far. Try asking your friends.
It is not impossible to find a job; however, applicants need to put in the work more so now than ever. Social media makes finding a new job look super easy, but we know better.
You are only competing against yourself in this race and you know your circumstances. Give yourself grace and know that everybody, whether they admit it or not, has had job-related struggles that they had to overcome.
Gamify It
This tip can be extremely helpful to those working through job rejection right now. Instead of being discouraged by the rejection, you should reward yourself for the work that you have put in.
If you make receiving “X” amount of rejections your goal, then you will improve your chances of receiving offers. The underlying purpose is to increase your experience, and by proxy, increase your confidence in the process.
Now, you do want to increase the number of applications that you are submitting; however, you must maintain the quality. As you practice, you will become faster at the whole process. You do not want to ensure that you are rejected; however, increase the number of eyeballs that come across your job application.
Even if you are not hired for the specific job that you applied for, your skills may be better suited to a different position that the company has available.
It Only Takes One Yes
The final thing that I want you to remember about job rejection is that you only need one yes to have a job.
You may consider yourself to have pain and suffering now; however, as soon as you receive and sign your offer letter, how you feel right now will not matter.
You are doing all this work to receive that one yes and once you have completed your mission you can cross it off the list.
Don’t take yourself too seriously because you are very unlikely to remember the frustration that you are incurring right now.
Keep pushing and you will figure it out!
Summary
This is a compilation of my tips to help you deal with job rejection.
Hopefully, you are inspired to continue or ramp up your job search to find your dream job.
If you would like to learn more about the job searching process, check out these articles: