How to Keep a Good Mindset When You Don’t Get the Job

I have always been someone who has to be working, doing something, and keeping busy, otherwise I don’t feel too great about myself. Though a month of online school and doing nothing during quarantine was a nice break, it did start to make me go a little crazy. 

I have kept a consistent job since I was 16 years old, and the only time I wasn’t working was during my freshman year of college. When I was furloughed at my job during quarantine, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to come back, and I had a freakout moment and applied to new jobs. I did this, not just for the summer while I was home, but for the school year as well. I knew that even if I was able to come back to work, I would need another job for when I was back in Boulder. Over the course of a few months, I applied to many places. Some of them I never heard back from, but some of them gave me hope. There were three jobs this summer that I interviewed with and was turned down by all three. 

At this point, you can probably imagine I was pretty torn up about it. I am very loyal to my workplaces, so my resume had two jobs listed. The first one I worked at for three years, and for the second, I was coming up on one year of employment before COVID hit. I thought this commitment looked pretty impressive. It also doesn’t help that every job I have applied for, hired me. You might say that was an unrealistic expectation for myself, but I had not felt rejection from a job interview before. So, having three near heartbreaks for my ego, self-esteem, and self-worth, here is how I coped.

 

 It’s a sign.

I am a spiritual person and believe that everything happens for a reason. Whatever higher power you might believe in, it can help to think about the grand scheme of things and that there may have been a divine intervention in your plans. I felt this because I knew deep down that I was doing too much this semester and not getting those jobs was a sign that I didn’t need them at this moment.

I turned the negative thoughts into positive ones.

Thinking about this as a setback, or a loss, will just create more negative energy than you need. Instead, think of it as an opportunity for something else. Not having a steady job this semester is an opportunity for me to find a new exciting hobby or have more leisure time for friends. Changing your outlook on the experience will make your life better, I promise.

Realize you can’t change it, so why worry?

I know I did the best I could during those interviews, and with my experience, I feel like it would be hard to turn down four years of retail experience. But, with all this in mind, they made their decision and the only thing I can do is move forward. It is not worth the energy to wonder what I did wrong because just like other aspects of life, sometimes it really isn’t you.  

Keep your head up, and don’t take it too personally. Something good will come along and you will forget about this time in your life, or you will use it as a lesson for the future. You’re doing amazing and where you are at right now is good enough. 

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