At some point or another, every single person is going to be passed over for a job they want. It’s just the way the world works. But what separates the successful copywriters from the less-than-successful copywriters is what they do after the rejection.
Here are three steps you can take to move pass that feeling of rejection and move toward your next win!
1. Remember: Nothing is Permanent
After you get passed over for a job, you need to remind yourself that no decision is irreversible. The hiring manager may change his or her mind and/or the candidate they choose might not work out.
Of course, neither of these things are in your control, but your reaction to the situation is. Even when you’ve been passed over for a job, you want to be the peak of professionalism and gratitude. After all, if the job does become open again in the future, you want them to already be thinking highly of you.
Send a thank you note. You’d be surprised at how many candidates don’t do this. It will make you stand out. In that note, if you’re open to it, you can always offer your services on a freelance basis should they have additional work they need to take on. You’re not only letting them know there’s no hard feelings, you’re showing you’re open to opportunities in the future.
2. Ask for Feedback
Now, back to how to actually deal with that rejection. Sure, it’s disappointing and maybe even painful, but it can also be very useful. They didn’t hire you for a reason. Put a different way, there was something about your portfolio, your experience or your skill level that kept them from hiring you.
So what do you want to do? Find out what that reason is!
Get in touch with your main contact at the company. First, genuinely thank them for the opportunity. Then, let them know that you’d like to continue improving and ask, based on their impressions, what you could improve on in the future.
It can really be as simple as, “If you don’t mind me asking, do you mind sharing any feedback? I’d loved to continue to improve my skills.” (Certainly rework that so it’s in your own voice!)
3. Take Action on that Feedback!
Once you find out what was missing from your portfolio/experience/skill level, you can work on it and be better prepared for similar opportunities in the future. One job rejection is just an opportunity to improve yourself for the next one!
If you don’t get a satisfactory answer from the HR person (something like, “Oh, we just decided to go in a different direction”), you can get in touch with the main person you interviewed with. Again, be polite, grateful and brief—you are hoping for some feedback, but you don’t want to annoy him/her.
The worst case scenario is that you don’t get any real feedback. The best case scenario is you get some solid feedback to work with and improve yourself/your skills/your portfolio for the next dream job you come across.
You can also do your own reflection about the process. What went well? What didn’t go well? Be honest with yourself. Did you ramble on certain questions? Were you unprepared for others?
Taking action any time you don’t land work or a job allows you to pivot from feeling like you got nothing but a giant “no” out of the experience, to realizing you got a ton of valuable information you can use to strengthen your skills moving forward.
Your turn! How do you cope with interview rejection? Let us know in the comments below!
Last Updated on May 10, 2023
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