How to Use Rejection to Your Advantage
You sit at your desk for a few hours, scrolling, searching for a job offer that you’re interested in. After seeing countless suggestions that supposedly match your profile, you finally find one job that triggers your curiosity. Your pupils dilate, you bend over your desk and read the description over again.
That’s it, you’ll give this one a try. You get straight to it. Onto the company web page to learn more about their activities and background, you read every single tab you can find. You then open a word document, start typing your cover letter. Maybe after an hour, you send it to a friend for him or her to proofread it. You’re good to go.
You prepare your application email, attach the cover letter with your CV, take a deep breath, and hit send.
You feel a little excitement. Who knows, maybe in a few weeks you’ll be moving to that new town starting a new job. You’ll meet new colleagues, have a new apartment, start a new adventure. It makes you feel alive. You go to bed eager to check your mailbox the following day.
As soon as you open your eyes, you remove the airplane mode and refresh your inbox. Nothing. Maybe they haven’t seen your application yet. You wait patiently a few days, following the same ritual every morning.
Finally, after a week, you see an email address that ends with the company name that you applied for.
“Sorry, but after careful consideration, we will not be able to pursue your application. We wish you the best of luck in your job search.”
You fall back on your bed. You’ll have to start over again. Getting rejected creates strong emotions. You might resent the company. Maybe you’ll doubt yourself. You may get scared of applying again. Anger, frustration will mix into your feelings.
I know it. Just like you, I am dealing with this daily. I just graduated and started looking for jobs in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. It’s disheartening. It seems that for every application I send out, I get twice the amount of rejection emails. They weigh heavier on my mind. It’s like being punched in the face.
It makes you want to give up. Hope is making a run for it. A recession is coming anyway, why bother?
But don’t think like that. Don’t give up. And I am going to tell you why.
Somewhere, in a place you haven’t yet looked at, is an opportunity waiting for you. You will only find it if you keep digging.
And there is only one way to reach it. That is, use the power of the many rejections to move forward. Acknowledge the challenge. Take in these emotions that you feel when you get rejected. And transform them into the energy that pushes you to get what you are looking for.
They are your power. If you feel disappointed when you don’t get something, it means that deep inside you there is a burning desire. Use that feeling of rejection to light it stronger.
Keep applying, keep trying. Prove it to yourself, that it will the companies that rejected your applications that missed out on something, and not you.
A few years ago, I had to find an internship to complete my bachelor’s degree. I was studying business management but wanted to work in the luxury hospitality industry. I had no prior experience, and not really the study background for it either. I didn’t know anything about service.
But, I set out to find myself that internship. Of course, I wanted to go abroad, if possible to Asia. Online I could barely find an internship opportunity on traditional websites. So I took another approach, I contacted the hotels directly.
Over 3 months, I sent out 176 initiative applications worldwide, before finally getting to chose between 2 offers. The reason I know it was exactly 176, is because I did an excel file to track my applications and not get lost.
If I couldn’t find the HR’s email or a contact person on LinkedIn, I would just email the hotel’s reception and ask. Some kindly replied, others not. Some declined, others gave me at least the chance to an interview.
It wasn’t personal though. There is an infinite amount of reasons for a company to decline an application. Maybe they don’t need an intern. Maybe the visa process is too cumbersome for them to hire a foreigner. Maybe they are worried about a possible language barrier. Maybe they already have an intern. Maybe they don’t have the budget for it. Maybe they are legally not allowed to take interns.
It was hard to accept that so many hotels would reject me. I had a good educational background, spoke 3 languages, and had international experiences. Why didn’t they want to take me as an intern?
That’s just how it is. But it doesn’t change anything, neither for me nor for you. Ignore this feeling of self entitlement. It’s only holding you back.
Every single rejection is just a way to learn and get better, for the day you will be having that one interview that lands you the internship or job you want. It’s part of the process.
Unsuccessful applications are just a way for you to improve for the next.
Harness the power of rejection. Keep going, you will find something.
