Page 210 - 301 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, Second Edition

CHAPTER 15

YOU BLEW
THE INTERVIEW.

NOW WHAT?

LEVERAGE REJECTION INTO A
LEARNING EXPERIENCE

No one likes to be rejected, but if you are serious about your career
in the long term, you must learn to embrace rejection. In the course
of your career you will get rejected for a lot of reasons—some valid,
some not so valid—and sometimes for no reason at all. The chal-
lenge of embracing rejection is to accept your limitations, transform
hopelessness into action, and learn from each rejection. Allow me to
rephrase the celebrated serenity prayer: “Grant me the confidence
to accept the rejection I cannot change, the determination to change
the rejection I can, and the wisdom to learn from each.”

When they are rejected, most candidates fold up their tents and
slink away. That is understandable but precisely the wrong strategy.
To a salesperson, a no is just the beginning of another conversation.
Many candidates have parlayed a rejection into a relationship that
led to another job offer, if not for the original job then for another
job. Even if you can’t do this, a rejection can be beneficial if you can
get authentic feedback.

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