How to Stay Motivated After a Job Rejection

We’ve all been there. You get all excited about a job you were interviewing for. Your resume was stellar. Your cover letter was well-crafted, tailor made for the position. You nailed the interview. You even started imagining yourself in the role, getting prepared for success – and then you get an email that you didn’t get the job. 

A job rejection notice can be disappointing at first, but you can overcome it. After the initial mix of anger, sadness and hopelessness, here’s what you can do when you’ve been rejected for a job.

Explore Your Motives

Okay, you’re bummed about the job rejection. But ask yourself why you were so interested, and be honest. Were you excited about a new challenge? A chance for professional growth? Was the work you hoped to sign on to do really stimulating and engaging? Or were you just excited about the prestige of the company and some of the perks? If you were enthused about the company but not necessarily about the role, maybe you’re better off. Remember that experienced interviewers can sense your passion, and they might have thought you weren’t really that excited. If you really loved the company, keep your eyes peeled for another position that you can get excited about. 

Evaluate Your Preparedness

A lot of job seekers underestimate how much preparation they need to do, especially if they’ve been searching for a while—eventually their search just goes to autopilot. Did you fully prepare for this role? Your resume and cover letter should have been customized for the position. You should have researched the company and prepared your answers accordingly, echoing their mission statement, values, current events and maybe even some tidbits about their key personnel. 

Reassess Everything

Here’s your chance to be a Monday morning quarterback. What else might have led to your rejection? Even though your interview went well, there are so many other factors that hiring managers consider. The job rejection could have come from something one of your references said, an inappropriate post on one of your social media accounts or maybe one of the other candidates was simply more qualified than you. 

Be Honest

Go back through all your interactions and determine whether or not you should have seen this coming. Were there red flags? Were you blindly optimistic despite the fact that your qualifications didn’t quite align? 

Target Your Area for Improvement

Regardless of what reason you land on for why you didn’t get the job, you should do a bit of self-reflection and identify something you could do better. After all, you might as well make the most of the situation and make your job candidacy a little bit stronger. Maybe you can fine-tune your interviewing skills, plan on doing a bit more pre-interview research next time or proofread your resume a little more carefully.

Going through a long interview process and not getting a job offer at the end can be tough, but it’s ultimately a learning experience as you grow as a professional. Every job you apply for will provide some new perspective that you can take along throughout your career. 

Want to get more tips on how to have a successful career? Check out our website at http://www.icrjobs.com.