How To Bounce Back From Disappointment
“We regret to inform you that we have offered the job to someone else.” It’s disappointing to hear but if you get down about it too much and aren’t able to bounce back again, it will have an affect on your job search effectiveness. Getting rejected is all part of the job search process.
It is okay to grieve the loss of an opportunity but only for a short while. If you allow yourself to dwell on it for too long – you will have less energy and enthusiasm for putting in the necessary activity required to land your next job. The way to overcome your loss is to get back into action. Always ensure that your “funnel” is full. By that I mean that even while you may be getting to the second and third interview stages with one or more companies, you should still be sending out some resumes so that if those opportunities fall through, you will likely have another opportunity brewing within a short time. When you have a full “funnel”, you usually don’t get too discouraged from missing out on one or two opportunities here and there because you know that you’ve got a lot of other “irons in the fire”.
It’s important that you make your job search targeted but that doesn’t mean limited. The more resumes that you put out there, the more phone calls that you get, the more interviews you do, the more likely you are to get job offers. It’s the law of large numbers! If you’ve got a number of potential opportunities on the go, you won’t be deterred when you do get rejected.
Also, don’t think that a “no” is permanent. It may just mean “no for now”. Call the employer again in 3 to 6 months to see if things have changed or if their business has increased enough to allow for another job opportunity. Many employers nowadays have “job alerts” on the careers section of their website. You can submit a resume and select a job category or title and provide your email address so that an automatically generated email is sent to you as soon as another posting appears on the website.
Make sure that you take some breaks for yourself during your search as well. If you’re already working full-time, conducting a job search can really add to your stress levels. An effective job search can be a full time job in itself. Set activity goals for yourself each day or each week and after each goal has been met (which might be sending out 5 resumes), you should reward yourself for your efforts. For you, the reward might be going for a walk or seeing a movie or buying a chocolate bar. Whatever it is, rewarding yourself will help to keep you going and keep you from getting down about perceived setbacks.
Keep your self-talk positive. Make sure that you keep your thoughts on what you want, rather than what you don’t want. As long as you expect to land the job of your dreams, you will keep going with an attitude that something better is just around the corner.
If you think about it, feeling bad about your situation will not help you in your job hunt and may be detrimental. Keep your attitude positive and carry on with your search activity. Your activities should be consistent and you should set goals for yourself each day or each week so that you stay on track. Treat yourself after each goal is accomplished and don’t be too hard on yourself. A positive attitude will keep you going.
It is okay to grieve the loss of an opportunity but only for a short while. If you allow yourself to dwell on it for too long – you will have less energy and enthusiasm for putting in the necessary activity required to land your next job. The way to overcome your loss is to get back into action. Always ensure that your “funnel” is full. By that I mean that even while you may be getting to the second and third interview stages with one or more companies, you should still be sending out some resumes so that if those opportunities fall through, you will likely have another opportunity brewing within a short time. When you have a full “funnel”, you usually don’t get too discouraged from missing out on one or two opportunities here and there because you know that you’ve got a lot of other “irons in the fire”.
It’s important that you make your job search targeted but that doesn’t mean limited. The more resumes that you put out there, the more phone calls that you get, the more interviews you do, the more likely you are to get job offers. It’s the law of large numbers! If you’ve got a number of potential opportunities on the go, you won’t be deterred when you do get rejected.
Also, don’t think that a “no” is permanent. It may just mean “no for now”. Call the employer again in 3 to 6 months to see if things have changed or if their business has increased enough to allow for another job opportunity. Many employers nowadays have “job alerts” on the careers section of their website. You can submit a resume and select a job category or title and provide your email address so that an automatically generated email is sent to you as soon as another posting appears on the website.
Make sure that you take some breaks for yourself during your search as well. If you’re already working full-time, conducting a job search can really add to your stress levels. An effective job search can be a full time job in itself. Set activity goals for yourself each day or each week and after each goal has been met (which might be sending out 5 resumes), you should reward yourself for your efforts. For you, the reward might be going for a walk or seeing a movie or buying a chocolate bar. Whatever it is, rewarding yourself will help to keep you going and keep you from getting down about perceived setbacks.
Keep your self-talk positive. Make sure that you keep your thoughts on what you want, rather than what you don’t want. As long as you expect to land the job of your dreams, you will keep going with an attitude that something better is just around the corner.
If you think about it, feeling bad about your situation will not help you in your job hunt and may be detrimental. Keep your attitude positive and carry on with your search activity. Your activities should be consistent and you should set goals for yourself each day or each week so that you stay on track. Treat yourself after each goal is accomplished and don’t be too hard on yourself. A positive attitude will keep you going.
posted by Admin at 12:16 PM
1 Comments:
Hello,
Recently an employer contacted me about a job I thought would be perfect for me. After they turned me down because of some grammatical and consistency errors in my resume (I'm an English major looking for employment in the publishing/communications industry), I was devestated. I took my resume off the 'big' job sites and had about three friends and a professional look it over. I've since been afraid to send my resume back out there but your article was very encouraging and has helped me make a plan to bounce forward.
Thank you!
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