Dealing with rejections

It's a character-building process, this job-hunting lark. The biggest challenge for me last week was getting unexpectedly knocked by a rejection following an interview. Unexpected as it wasn't a job I particularly wanted and it wouldn't even have paid enough to live on. But that's the thing about applying for jobs - each one you do, you start imagining yourself there, part of that team, sitting in that office - and of course at an interview you get to dip your toe back into the world of work, and it looks like an escape from boredom, job centres and uncertainty.

I expected a string of no's before getting to the yes. That's the reality for most of us. You can't predict which 'no' is going to throw you off your game but it is likely to happen. It could be because you felt you really put your best face forward and it was deemed not good enough (let's call it the 'taking it personally' knock). It could be because you really, really wanted that particular job (the 'losing the dream' knock). It could be because you just want an end to all this applications, CVs, constant searching (the 'running out of steam' knock).

So what did I learn to do about it? Well I admit it took me longer to pick myself up and dust myself off than it should have done. I think it's healthy to allow yourself to feel the disappointment, wallow in it, but only for a short time - let's say 15 minutes, not two days! Then - move on. Find the next dream job to apply for; or make yourself a better candidate than you were last week, by signing up to learn a new skill, or practising answers to the trickiest questions they tripped you up on in that last interview. There is always something proactive you can do.

Be resilient.

See, this is a flower growing even though it's surrounded by tarmac n stuff. It's resilient, geddit?