Business
Job Search: Mindset Tips Prepare for rejection and thank them Silence is common Don’t go down the WHY tunnel Relax Reward yourself Prepare for rejection and thank them Unless you’re the luckiest job seeker in the world and find a perfect match first time, rejection is going to happen and often many times. You must treat each experience as a learning exercise. One contact I know sent a great email thanking the interviewers for the opportunity and learning experience after he was rejected for a position. It turned out they had made a mistake and the head of talent called him back for an interview. The gracious response added yet another positive element to his application and even called his accidental rejection to the attention of the head of talent. Positions close and re-open all the time, building lasting bridges is essential. Silence is common It's not uncommon to submit a resume to an online application system and hear absolutely nothing back – not even a confirmation that your info was received. Even if you get past this stage and actually speak to a person, you may end up ghosted at any point with no explanation as to why. Yes, these practices are rude and disrespectful to job candidates, but they are also extremely common. Don't take it personally. Recognize that silence is expected. In most cases, you will only hear from prospective employers when you're in the running for a role. If they're not interested, they most likely won't bother communicating that. Don't hold your breath waiting for more information. Don’t go down the WHY tunnel For many, the mysteries involved with job search are incredibly difficult to handle. It's rare that you ever really know why some decisions are made. Few organizations provide feedback to rejected candidates for fear of accidentally stepping into murky legal waters. Once again, silence is the most common form of feedback, which leaves much to the imagination. Many job seekers try to make sense of the situation by fabricating scenarios to explain why they didn't get the job or why they didn't even get invited to an interview. Unfortunately, such exercises are totally futile. You might look at a job posting and think you're perfect for the role, but you have no idea what other factors are in play – and you probably never will. Maybe they had an internal employee already in mind for the job. Or maybe the budget got cut and the job was eliminated. Or maybe they saw a gaping hole in your skill set or just didn't like the font you used on your resume. Maybe they hired a bad employee from your alma mater in the past so you were immediately blacklisted. If you try to guess what happened, you'll drive yourself crazy! The only course of action is to continue on. Don't waste time with speculation. In most cases, it's out of your hands anyway. You couldn't have done anything to get a different result. Relax Finding a perfect fit for your career objectives and skills takes time. You probably neglected relaxation during your executive position, so now is the time to develop relaxation techniques and plan activities to ensure you are on top mental and physical form for your job search. Reward yourself Gains small or large are one step closer to landing a job. Appreciate your achievements and you will capitalize on each step forward that much more.