MOVING ON FROM REJECTIONS
Hey There! I hope we are all staying safe.
I was going through my diary just last week and found my entry from late 2018. As seen in my diary, “so, I started applying for jobs and guess what! I was rejected by all of them. Not even one took me, from retail to hospitality”.
After reading this, I decided to reflect on my “job rejections” experience.
Rejection, like all experiences, can shape our lives for better, depending on how we interpret it. I used to think that being rejected meant I was lazy, incompetent, weak, not good enough, in fact all the negative words you can think of. But NO! NO!! NO!!! No more negativity here.
Rejections can come in many forms; negative feedback from an essay or piece of work? As a result, you have to start researching from scratch? I’ve been there! Personal relationships/friendships? I’ve been there! A job application or interview? That’s why we are here!
I was rejected multiple times during my part-time job search in 2018. I can remember job hunting from September of that year. I applied for multiple jobs, from retail to hospitality, to Uni jobs. I got accepted for a few interviews, which I flopped! Yes, all of them! I wasn’t accepted for even one (Mind you, I had hospitality experience before this)! I’m someone who is already very emotional, so I cried “real tears” and thought something was wrong with me! I wish someone had told me to wipe my tears that this was just the start of better opportunities. At last! In late October of that year, I got accepted as a temporary retail assistant at Jack Wills. Just one month after the sad experience. You can imagine how excited I was. I was quite confident at the interview, from the way I dressed (I can remember borrowing my sister’s handbag), to the way I spoke and made small rapport with the interviewer.
This experience taught me that growth is possible from rejection if we could focus on Learning from them. Tell yourself that you can do this, you can learn this, you can improve on this, you can achieve this. Cos this helped me. This was an exciting opportunity for me, and little did I know that it was only the beginning of greater opportunities.
From there 2019, just before the end of the final semester I started my part-time job search again. Before applying, I had researched and made good use of available resources, to ensure I know how to write a good cover letter and CV. So, I applied for several jobs and wow, I got interviews for about 5/7 of those jobs! I couldn’t attend all the interviews and had to decline one of the invites. So, I went for four, got rejected for one, accepted for three, declined one of the employment offers, and then accepted two (one was for a few days whilst the other was on a part-time basis). I found that my rejection gave me the push to reflect on my experience and turn my negatives into positives to suit my goals. The job I was rejected for was the first interview I went for, so I asked for feedback and applied this to the other interviews. And it paid off!
My reaction when I accepted the part-time job offer is still vividly in my memory. I was on my way to campus when I got the call. I paused for a few secs and then screamed!!! (can’t remember the exact way I screamed, but it was something like this...SKJGHJGIJGGTHKTKTKSGTHHHGTGTSHDLHIH)!! I couldn’t even hear what the manager was still saying after this (LMAO) cos I was so overwhelmed.
My point is, your efforts will be recognized someday irrespective of the rejections you’ve encountered. Just work on building yourself or portfolio and you will be surprised by the outcome. It might be hard to come to terms with the fact that you’ve been rejected not once, not twice but multiple. But even the people you look up to have probably gone through worse.
So, from this experience, I have started taking rejection as a means of seeking better opportunities. I have learnt that patience, resilience, and hard work are vital to excel.
Rejections are a normal part of life, so feel your feelings, but don't let them stop you from reflecting on the experience and applying that info going forward. It could be the beginning to achieving greatness!
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