How To Overcome The Disappointment Of Being Rejected For A Job

It is generally widely known that among people's fear in life is being asked to speak in public, closely matching that i would add is being rejected for a job. Indeed, some may argue that the feeling of disappointment that ensues losing at a job interview or receiving a rejection letter carries far more deeper pain and hurt.

And so, because being rejected in anything is something most people hate and indeed will try to avoid at all cost, this can stop people from learning valuable lessons from a failure and using it to propel them forward for far greater success. I would debate with anyone that success proceeds failure and not the other way round, think of Thomas Edison for starters. Indeed there is a school of thought that says if you are succeeding all the time it probably means you are not stretching yourself enough and not pushing yourself that hard, staying within your comfort zone. And ofcourse, there are lots of people who have had success by staying within their 'comfort zone' being steady and not challenging the status quo. However, i will defy you to find anyone of note in society that is written about today or in the past or anyone you can think of that is admired highly by their peers that has not tasted some form of defeat or failure.

So in dealing with the ill feeling of being rejected for a job or finding out that you have just lost out to someone who was deemed as slightly better than you, then you need to put things in perspective and come to an understanding, in life, you lose some and win some. Your focus must be on winning ofcourse but learning from your loses, looking for feedback, find out the specific reason(s) why you lost on this occasion to the competition. And do not buy the nonsense excuses that is often regurgitated by some hr departments or personnel staff who simply say you lost out due to the competition. That is not a reason! Not even a good reason! The fact is there will always be competition, just because Tesco is regarded as having a larger share of the retail food industry in the UK, does that mean other retailers might as well pack up and retreat to the trenches, bury their heads and wollow in pity at the collossus that is Tesco plc, absolutely not. There will always be competition, in good times and much more during the bad times like we are in at present with the global recession. Therefore, try and find out why you specifically lost out as only this will give you the nugget of information to assist you in moving forward with your job search and personal development. And contrary to some who say companies are not prepared to help, there are lots of good businesses out there with a corporate social responsibility strategy (CSR) and do not have it just for decorative purposes only.

It is almost impossible to avoid failing, i have read many books on some of the most successful people on the planet and one thing they definately have in common is their ability to rise from defeats or failure and rise once again to beat all that stand before them. I would suggest using it as a source for motivation, it brings out the best  in you, or it should do hopefully, you've got something to live for and the people, the doubters to prove wrong. I cannot think of  anything more motivating to spur you on in life.

Indeed, one of Britain's greatest leaders and by and large dismissed as a nobody in the early part of his career before rising to prominence later in his political career, Sir Winston Churchill, said: "Failure is never fatal, Success is never final, it is the courage to continue that counts". I would add another affirmation that you can use in overcoming the occasional disappointment of losing at a job interview, as mentioned above some will say yes, and some will say no, so what, move on to the next meeting and interview.

Will finish this article with this last statement, which goes by as follows: the strength of a person is determined not by what he/she possesses, but, by what it takes to discourage he/she. And so do not  be discouraged, as there are greater opportunities and people out there wanting to help to let someone else's decision blight your progress in life.

Femi Yusoof