Rejection or redirection? What to do when your job search is unsuccessful
Whether familial, social, romantic or professional – rejection is always painful and can knock our self-esteem for six. Receiving multiple rejections during the job search can feel particularly brutal, especially when you’ve spent hours pouring passion onto the pages of a job application, met in return with a cold automated email.
Or worse, you battle your way to the final interview, finish line in sight, only for candidate B to overtake you at the last minute. While frustrating, rejection is sadly a natural part of life, and guess what? It happens to everyone!
In this blog, we look at how to reframe rejection as redirection, so you can flourish in your job search and push on to find your dream role.
Dealing with application rejection
Just received the dreaded “After careful consideration we will not be continuing with your application” email? Firstly, it’s OK to let yourself feel the twang of disappointment but try not to dwell on it or let it consume your whole day.
Set some time aside for self-reflection where you can look over your CV and cover letter and make notes on what you might improve next time. This can be challenging if the employer didn’t provide any feedback but it’s still worth doing. You could even discuss the application with a trusted friend or family member – sometimes having an external perspective can help you evaluate your application’s strengths and weaknesses more clearly.
Once you’ve gone over your application and made useful notes, it’s time to set the whole thing aside and move on. It’s a bit like getting over an ex! Delete the rejection email, and go onwards with your professional journey knowing you’ve learned and grown from the experience.
Dealing with rejection after an interview
Finding out that you lost out on a job opportunity in the final round of interviews is possibly one of the most gut-wrenching feelings you can experience in the professional world. Hopefully, however, at this stage you will receive feedback – and sometimes it’s simply down to the fact that your competition had more experience. In this case, there’s nothing else you could have done, so congratulate yourself for how far you got and get back on the bandwagon.
In the scenario that the feedback you receive is little to none, then you can always get in touch with HR and ask for some constructive feedback to help you shine brighter in your next interview. Unfortunately, some organisations simply don’t have the time to provide individual feedback so you’ll have to take initiative and evaluate your interview performance, solo.
Again, once you’ve had time to accept and reflect – it’s time to get back out there. Remember, what’s meant to be for you, will be!
Want someone to support you through your next job search? Here at Amaré Health, we prioritise our candidate’s needs over playing the numbers game. We’re here to listen to what you want out of your next career move and we’ll try our best to find something that matches.
Find out more about upcoming healthcare openings here or give us a call on 0203 929 4017.