How to Use a Job Rejection to Your Advantage

At some point or the other every job candidate gets stricken out in the job market, so why not turn this major disappointment a chance for your lifetime. The scenario is like you meet a prospective employer, strike all the chords right, and realise that you will be able to deliver spectacular results for the company. So, you send in your job proposal and show you due meticulousness. Now you simply sit back and wait with full confidence for the confirmation.

But may be the things don’t go the way you wanted them or expected. You are surprised that you did not even hear back from the client. Now you start wondering what could have gone wrong, although you were the perfect candidate for the desired job. Suddenly after few days you receive an email stating that you did not land up with the job. Now this is called job rejection and then you start suffering from the sinking feeling of “I-didn’t-get-the-project”.

Job Rejection?

This is something quite common experience found happening with most of the candidates.  Just keep in mind that even the smartest of the people would have faced rejection in their lives at some point. It happens mostly with everyone and it is something very natural.

It does take a lot of practice to convert the negative feelings of being rejected into a positive track, while empowering yourself, especially when you know very well that you are experienced, well qualified and possess all the qualities needed for success. So, just realise that sulking would not help, rather getting over it will be of great help. Turn things around in positive manner to your advantage is the key.

Instead of feeling sorry for yourself and lying all day long with a gloomy face, why not use this experience of being rejected to your advantage.

Yes! You got that right.

Although getting rejected is a feeling of distress which no one can avoid but why waste your talent and time in sulking. Why not learn lessons from this rejection, so that you can simply stay away from repeating these mistakes again while applying for another project or a job. This is one stop shop guide which will tell your different, yet highly effective ways in which you can convert your job rejection for your benefit. So just sit back and relax and let these feelings of despair fade away in a day and two and then be back in full swing.

Ways to use job rejection as an Advantage

1. Ask for Feedback

Feedback is the most important aspect in any form of communication. Getting a feedback from an experienced person always proves helpful. You might have not got the job, however, feedback or appraisal from the interviewer can help you understand your weaknesses, incapability, and inappropriateness regarding the rejection. This might make you feel low for a couple of minutes, but it should be taken positively as it will help you avoid mistakes that you did now and mark your strengths, thereby, making a clear path for your further opportunities.

2. Look for Other Opportunities

Life is full of uncertainties. Therefore, it is very important to have opportunities in your hand, so that you don’t just find yourself stuck nowhere. Accept that you have been rejected from a particular job opening, however, remember that you have equally beneficial opportunities lying ahead of you. Always be prepared for with ample opportunities so that you don’t waste any time lingering around here and there waiting for other opportunities to come up.

3. Get Networking Activated

This era of technology has been a fantastic source of networking with not only friends and family, but also employers and talent acquisition teams of various companies. Its of vital importance to keep yourself socially active so that you have excellent options at your fingertips. Job rejection is just a phase of that particular day, turn this into an advantage by arranging next interview through your networks. Ask friends, call up consultancies, look for more opportunities through job portals, connect with your LinkedIn sources, etc.

4. Do not repeat the Mistakes

You’ve got a rejection already, but with that you’ve also got a constructive feedback. Its better that you remember the feedback, rather than crying over the rejection. Your mistakes have been pointed out and you have already been informed about your loopholes. This is the best time as you already know what to showcase, and what not to mess with. Play smart, and do not repeat your mistakes. Prepare for the interview and common questions before-hand.

5. Try Building Relationships

Job interviews are a good way to build a healthy relationship with the interviewer as well as job consultancies. You should try building rapport from the very first moment you enter the venue of the interview, no matter whether you are accepted or rejected.

Post rejection and feedback, make sure you mention it to the interviewer to consider you in future or for a particular profile, according to the feedback provided. Leave with a warm smile and positive attitude.

6. Evaluate What Client Needs

The interviewer will only select you if you fulfil every criterion on their check-list to fit a particular job position. There might be some exceptions, but that’s a rare case. You have to be focused and smart enough to gage what the job requires of you. Its very important that you do an intensive research about the responsibilities expected to take over by the new employee. You can check if you know an employee of that organisation, so that you can evaluate the work culture, and expectations the organisation holds from the employee joining the organisation.

7. Address Lacuna’s in Sales Process

Sales profile requires efficient investment of time, energy, and abilities. One of the key departments of any organisation is the sales and marketing department, which take the finished products to the end consumers. Therefore, its necessary to build the bridges or gaps in the sales process. Assess the needs of the consumers and tell them your USP, how are you different from others and why you charge a particular amount for a service or product, so that they do not find a reason to turn you down.

8. Have a Positive Attitude

Being rejected from a job does not end the world. Think of it in a way that there is something better waiting for you around the corner, and this attitude of accepting failure or rejection positively will get you a job which is better than this one. Stay happy and hopeful at all times. This will help take the situation positively and stay calm.

9. Always stay on track

The main objective for you right now is to get the right job. Staying off the track is not going to take you anywhere. Job rejection is just a part of life. therefore, it becomes crucial to stay focused on your goal. Keep yourself updated and  stay on track. Do not let a rejection make you go hay-wire. Keep looking for opportunities so that you are able to find a job that perfectly suits your eligibility criterion and also fulfils your expectations from the job. You never know you might land up with the better one than the job you were rejected for.

10. Return as Stronger Candidate

Feedback and appraisals make you a better person, whether it be from a friend, an elder person from your family, your boss, or the interviewer taking your interview. Critics mark your gaps. Thus, once rejected it becomes important for you to return as a stronger candidate, especially if you are applying in the same organisation after sometime. Work on yourself. Practice as much as you can, so that they are not able to find a gap between your eligibility and their expectations.

Conclusion

World is all about the rat-race. Getting better jobs, earning good incomes and incentives, and having a good standard of living, have become the main objectives of our life. Ample job opportunities are available and to increase the above we keep on trying to get the best opportunity we can. With the best, also come rejections and failures. However, job rejections do not mean the end of the world, in fact, a stepping stone.

Taking failures and rejections gracefully is an art only few have mastered. Remember, the world is full of opportunities, and where all doors are closed, a window of positive hope opens up. Therefore, you need to learn from rejections. Taking constructive feedback will help you work on yourself in a positive manner. Just stay calm so that you do not look like a loser, connect with friends, hiring managers, professionals, etc. to keep yourself updated with the new options. Work on yourself, stay on track and return with a bang to bag any possible opportunity that comes along you way. This will create options in front of you to choose from, rather than sitting back and whining about a rejection that you got the other day.