Staying Afloat In The World of Rejection

Congratulations, you have successfully finished your University degree, you’ve thrown (and probably dropped) your Graduation mortar board and the hard work has come to an end. Or not… You’ve now been thrown into ‘The World of Rejection’, trying to stay afloat as you complete countless job applications, hoping for that one ‘yes’ which will see you into your first full-term role.

You may be wondering how do I know this? Why am I writing this post? I’m writing this to share my own experience, which will hopefully resonate with other new Graduates, and to give you all a little motivation as I know how demoralising the search can be.

I’m certainly not an expert, I’m not claiming to be, but maybe this could help you – even a little!

Believe In Yourself:

This is probably the best piece of advice I can give you. Since I have been looking and applying for my first role since April (although I did only graduate last week), I have had several job interviews and countless more immediate rejections from applications – I know how mentally challenging it can be.

The other day, I got rejection from a job I really wanted and I won’t lie, I took the no hard. I’d made it through to the second round of interviews and the interviews actually went really well but sadly it wasn’t meant to be. After having a little cry (we’re only human after all), I realised that that rejection isn’t a reflection on me. They liked me enough for not one interview but two, they simply went for the candidate which better suited their company which is completely understandable.

The reason I’m telling you this is because the rejections you may get from applications, whether that be before or after interview, does not necessarily mean that you aren’t good enough. It may just mean that there were stronger applicants for that role or the company did not feel you were the right fit for them. Believing in yourself is what matters, you will be successful but if you don’t believe in yourself you will already be off on the wrong foot.

Apply, Apply, Apply:

You can NOT send too many applications. Seriously, it’s not physically possible. The best thing you can do to give yourself the best advantage is to apply to as many jobs as possible within the field you want to work. I know, that is easier said than done, there may not be an endless supply of new roles and some definitely won’t be suitable – believe me!

A foot in the door is often the perfect way to gain much needed experience within an industry, which can be invaluable to your career.

Stay Organised:

You need to keep on track of your applications, especially if you’re applying to a fair few. I’ve found that organising which jobs I have applied to, with details such as the closing date and whether you hear if you’re successful or not, in a spreadsheet is the easiest way to stay organised.

I can easily see every role I have applied to and whenever I hear back from applications, I update the spreadsheet to stay on track. Not only would I advise doing this, but I would also advise either saving application advertisements or printing them out – this means that you have all the relevant role details in the hope that you get invited for interview.

Having the details of the role is essential to prepping for an interview, how can you know what job you’re interviewing for without the specific role details? Believe me it’s a lot easier in the ‘World of Rejection’ if you’re organised with everything you’re applying to!

Ask for Feedback:

You’ve applied for a role, you’ve waited weeks to hear back and then when you do it’s a no. Or, you’re invited for an interview and then you get rejected. Sometimes the rejection email may come back and say that they cannot provide individual feedback but if it doesn’t, asking for feedback could be one of the best things you do.

I know you’ve just been rejected but be polite, acknowledge the email and ask if they can provide you any feedback as to why you were unsuccessful. I’ve done this several times now and each time the company has been happy to oblige and the feedback has somehow been a weird confidence boost.

It certainly doesn’t hurt to get feedback as this could help your future job applications and when you’re trying to land your first role, as Tesco would say, ‘Every little helps!’

To Finish:

I hope that these pointers have helped you in some way, whether you’re a new Graduate searching for your first role or you’re looking for a new job. It’s very easy in the ‘World of Rejection’ to get upset and down at the fact that you haven’t found a job in x amounts of months, I know, that’s me right now. The thing is though, I’m a new Graduate and this sort of thing will take time and the fact that I have already had a few interviews, with positive feedback as a result, is very motivating.

• You just have to stay focused.
• Stay motivated and believe in yourself that the right thing will come around.
• Interview experience is invaluable and will only help when you get the next one.

Remember, it is okay to be upset if you get rejected; it is how you refocus which is important.

Let me know if this post has been helpful, are you trying to stay afloat in the ‘World of Rejection’ too? I’d love to hear about your experiences! You can read other University related posts here.

All photography used in this blog post is my own.