Job rejection isn't all bad - here's why.

It’s tough being rejected while job hunting. Your natural mechanism is to take it personally and after several job rejections in a row, who could blame you?

The first step is to realise rejection is about you, but not on as many levels as you think! Here are some tips to help you through the process:

Be totally honest with yourself

Ask yourself whether you did have the right skill set for the job or whether you just applied in the hope that you’d get it because it sounded great. There will always be well-qualified people going after the same jobs as you, so if you don’t have the qualifications, don’t waste your time and save yourself the emotional stress.

The interview wasn’t good

Perhaps you knew that as soon as you’d opened your mouth you said the wrong thing and it went downhill from then on. Sometimes the interview just doesn’t go well, you don’t gel with the interviewer or the questions they asked were not easy to answer. Whatever the reason, put it down to experience. If you didn’t gel at stage one, you probably wouldn’t have gelled at stage two either. Check out our eBook dedicated to nailing job interviews!

Feel proud of what you achieved

Getting through the first hurdle of submitting your CV can be hard enough, so if you’ve had an interview before your rejection, well done! Now you need to work on your interview skills because you’ve obviously nailed the first part.

Got some feedback?

Not everyone is lucky enough to get feedback, good or bad, and if you have received it, value it and take it on board for next time. If the interviewer thought you were overqualified for the role, pat yourself on the back for your achievement, but add something to your future covering letters explaining why you are applying in the first place. Your experience will be somebody’s gain.

No matter the reason for your job rejection, keep the door open for the future by thanking the interviewer and staying positive. There may simply have been someone better suited for the one job on offer, but maybe it will be your turn next time.