What do you do with yourself after you get rejected for a job you really wanted?

[Nehalem58]

What do you do with yourself after you get rejected for a job you really wanted?

Tonight I got the offical "no" from a place that I REALLY wanted to work for and had put massive amounts of time and energy into getting the interview for the job.

I feel depressed, hurt, confused and just damn frustrated. I don't know what to do with myself.

What do you guys do when you are in this situation?

[chicagogirl]

Well, I cried. A lot. I took a walk in the woods, which has always calmed me. And then I went home and worked even harder to look for more jobs.

*hugs* I know how you feel.

[MrNCG23]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I got rejected for a dream job - a job I would have happily done for the rest of my life .. I made a great pitch, everyone liked me .. just missing one part of the equation (they were very very selective)

I would just take a few days to stop looking for jobs, pick yourself up and brush yourself off, and then optimistically look for jobs again. Remind yourself that these jobs may give you the experience/skills you need to get to your dream job, and you'll improve your chances in the future.

Easier said than done.

[yankeeyosh]

Happens to me all the time. At LEAST ten times. Most recently, two weeks ago when I found out that I was apparently blacklisted by a company I was really interested in working for. Each time is probably more devastating than the last, and it's really really tough.

I guess I would just follow everyone's advice...stop looking for a few days...take a breather...do something fun...and then regroup.

Sorry to hear this man...it's horrible...but these days, job hunting is nothing more than a crapshoot. It's unfair, but that's the nature of the beast...

[Krishna]

I wallpaper my room with my rejection notices. I have a nice pattern going- a few more and I should be done.





Kidding. Sort of.

[lonestar]

I know this is probably not very uplifting advice, but I have a friend who is trying to be a playright. He spent two or three years after college perfecting the script to his first play. He also recieved in excess of 65 rejection letters before finding a company that would perform it. That is a hell of a lot of rejection to face, but he kept on plugging along and submitting his work. While he waited, he continued writing, editing and working at Tim Horton's. Life sometimes throws incredible amount of rejection at you, but I think that eventually you find something that you love. At least, I hope so...

[wordsmith]

I didn't get rejected, but I'd actually rather I had, because it was more a matter of a hiring freeze. At least if I were outright rejected, I could move on, as it is, I'm holding out hope on some level that it will come to pass in the future, probably stupidly.

When I found out, I took a weekend vacation. I went out and stayed with my family, knowing that if I just sat around my place, I'd get depressed. It was better off to have people around me.

[winneythepooh7]

I know this is probably not very uplifting advice, but I have a friend who is trying to be a playright. He spent two or three years after college perfecting the script to his first play. He also recieved in excess of 65 rejection letters before finding a company that would perform it. That is a hell of a lot of rejection to face, but he kept on plugging along and submitting his work. While he waited, he continued writing, editing and working at Tim Horton's. Life sometimes throws incredible amount of rejection at you, but I think that eventually you find something that you love. At least, I hope so...

I agree 110%. As I have mentioned numerous times, I interview constantly. Often I can tell that by no fault of the person sitting before me, they just are not going to be the "right fit" for what my agency needs. By my not hiring them, I know I am saving a lot of grief on both of our parts (as well as the clients we serve).

[J-girl]

What do you do with yourself after you get rejected for a job you really wanted?

Tonight I got the offical "no" from a place that I REALLY wanted to work for and had put massive amounts of time and energy into getting the interview for the job.

I feel depressed, hurt, confused and just damn frustrated. I don't know what to do with myself.

What do you guys do when you are in this situation?
Well I didnt get rejected from a job but fromthe Grad school I applied to this year and I had no reason to believe why I'd be rejected. It is pretty hard on the self esteem but it happens to the best of us and we keep trying *sigh*

[cheshrcarol]

I've been rejected more times than I really care to count. There was the job I came home early from FL to interview with, the place I went to EIGHT times, the incredibly cool agency in NYC, the up and coming Internet company that would've been a great fit for me now and then when I finish my MS, and I could go on and on. I try to do something nice for myself and keep moving on.

Do you know why you were rejected? Was it something about your experience or was it just that they went with a better qualified candidate? A few years ago I interviewed several times with this company that I really wanted to work for and at the end, the woman I had mostly been dealing with called me and said she was really sorry but that they had gone with someone with more experience and she hoped she was making the right decision. At the time it was incredibly annoying to hear, but I was nice about it and said ok, thanks, etc. A few months later I found out my entire location was getting laid off. I called her up and left a message and said "I'm not sure if you remember me, but I have found out I'm going to be laid off and I'm wondering if any other job opportunities have become available". A few days later I got a call and an interview that lasted 10 minutes and the next day an offer. I ended up working there for 3 years.

[winneythepooh7]

I've been rejected more times than I really care to count. There was the job I came home early from FL to interview with, the place I went to EIGHT times, the incredibly cool agency in NYC, the up and coming Internet company that would've been a great fit for me now and then when I finish my MS, and I could go on and on. I try to do something nice for myself and keep moving on.

Do you know why you were rejected? Was it something about your experience or was it just that they went with a better qualified candidate? A few years ago I interviewed several times with this company that I really wanted to work for and at the end, the woman I had mostly been dealing with called me and said she was really sorry but that they had gone with someone with more experience and she hoped she was making the right decision. At the time it was incredibly annoying to hear, but I was nice about it and said ok, thanks, etc. A few months later I found out my entire location was getting laid off. I called her up and left a message and said "I'm not sure if you remember me, but I have found out I'm going to be laid off and I'm wondering if any other job opportunities have become available". A few days later I got a call and an interview that lasted 10 minutes and the next day an offer. I ended up working there for 3 years.

Thanks for sharing this Carol. It just goes to show that we should never burn our bridges.

[yankeeyosh]

Do you know why you were rejected? Was it something about your experience or was it just that they went with a better qualified candidate?

Very rarely does HR tell you more than that "while we were very impressed with your credentials, we determined that you were not the right fit" or some statement like that circumventing the issue

[lonestar]

I have gotten "we are very impressed with your yadda yadda" or "you were a very qualified candidate" but then that statement is followed up with "we have filled the position but will keep your resume on file..."

[MrNCG23]

Very rarely does HR tell you more than that "while we were very impressed with your credentials, we determined that you were not the right fit" or some statement like that circumventing the issue

I agree that if it is a big corporation, HR might not tell you the reason. I have called people who interviewed me and asked for feedback, and initially they may be a bit hesitant to divulge the reasons why, but I would say more than 3/4 tell me. I think it helps if you give the impression that you have a thick skin - that way they aren't worried about hurting your feelings. If you're still emotional or disappointed by it, I wouldn't call them up yet.

[jrwilheim]

Go to dinner with a good friend, talk, cry, do whatever you need to to get all the hurt and rejection out of your system. Then move on. It's all you can do.

[thedave]

What do you do with yourself after you get rejected for a job you really wanted?

Tonight I got the offical "no" from a place that I REALLY wanted to work for and had put massive amounts of time and energy into getting the interview for the job.

I feel depressed, hurt, confused and just damn frustrated. I don't know what to do with myself.

What do you guys do when you are in this situation?

Get some experience in that direction, then reapply. The new experience just may be what they're looking for... never know.. good luck man..