Is Rejection Good For You?

11 May 2023

Applying for jobs gives you an excellent opportunity to reflect on your career so far, think about how to succinctly describe it in a meaningful way on your CV, and how best to position yourself in relation to the jobs you want to go for. Many people take a very relaxed approach to applying for jobs, and constant rejection should provide the wake-up call that is needed to take some positive action the next time.

Regardless of the quality of applications we submit for new jobs, the majority of us will face rejection from recruiters at some time. There are so many messages we can take from this rejection which we can turn into positives, but all too often we just ignore them and move on.

If you’ve had a resounding no, and want to know how to learn from it, then read on:

Rejection at Shortlisting Stage:

If you’ve not even made it to the interview, then it’s probable that one of the following reasons applies:

You’ve lost out to some stiff competition, despite your amazingness :-)
You don’t have the right level of skill/experience for the job
You haven’t described in your application how you are ideal for the job.
Your CV/application is poorly written, with lousy structure/grammar and with obvious typos.

All of the above can be viewed positively, and here is how:

Whether you received any feedback on the back of your knock-back or not, here is what you can learn from it: ‘Something just wasn’t good enough’.

Each time you receive a rejection (and we hope there aren’t too many!), then do the following:

Make sure you are being realistic in the jobs you are applying for. We all have dreams to better ourselves, but sometimes we can try to move too far too fast.
If you thought you had the right experience or skill for the job, then you possibly haven’t been clear enough in your application about that for the recruiter to know! So, double-check what’s in your CV and amend it to reflect the true picture, or make a note to include the right information in your next application. Many of us don’t like to blow our own trumpets, but in the world of recruitment, nobody else will do it for you.
If you had a chance to explain, outside of your CV, what a perfect fit you would have been for the job, and you know your skills and experience were perfect, then you’ve missed the opportunity. If you can include a cover letter, or ‘additional information’ in an application form, then make the most of it the next time!
Get your CV reviewed! There are masses of companies who will do this for you, and many will do it for free to make sure yours isn’t written/structured badly, too long / too short, or it’s full of typos!

Rejection after Interview

If you did well enough to make it to interview, then firstly, well done you! Based on the usual percentages in recruitment you’ve beaten off the majority, only to fall at the last hurdle.

After having an interview, you are much more likely to be given some feedback by the recruiter.

If you can, ask them the following questions:

How was your overall performance?
What was the deciding factor in turning you down for the job?
How clear were the answers you gave to your questions?
How could you have done better?

Listening to feedback about rejection can be difficult, but you have to view it positively! You can assume that for now that you aren’t suitable for the job, but that one day, you might just be!

Turning this feedback around into a more positive experience the next time can be hard, but here are the tips we would suggest:

Write down, if you can remember them, the questions you were asked at the interview. Take some time to think of some great responses, and then ask a colleague/friend to ‘interview’ you with those questions and discuss the answers you have.
Practising these will really help you the next time, even if the next interview brings with it a whole new set of questions: this is a confidence-building exercise which can do you a big favour.
Have a dummy interview with someone used to recruiting who can provide you with feedback about your confidence levels, body language, eye contact and conversation techniques, so you can again receive feedback and act on it. At Our Bob, we offer the chance to have that constructive feedback through our interview coaching service. This allows us to give you help to improve your interview techniques and have one of our experts talk it through with you.
Learn about competency-based interviews and how to deal with them. Even if the interviews you attend aren't badged as competency-based, this technique will give you a great insight into the recruiter's interviewer's thought process.

It can be hard to put in the personal work that is needed in order to succeed at job interviews. You may have to reflect on things like your body language and how you come across to other people. Do you appear too eager or too stand-offish? Should you smile more, or is it coming across as being too intense?

Think about what you take to a job interview and check that those items are appropriate. The notepad and pen you bring with you are reassuring to have but are you sure you don’t fidget and click the pen in a way that the interviewers find annoying? Should you really be turning up with a Starbucks or Costa coffee, or does it seem a little rude?

Overall, reflecting on and learning from rejection should make you sit up and think, ‘what can I do better the next time?’ If you can ask yourself that question, and provide or act on the answers, then you’re halfway there! And if you manage all of that, then you're in a much better place to get a better job.