From the title of this, you may be thinking “why would I take any advice from a girl who has been rejected 100 times?” Let me lead with this, interviewing and life in general become a lot less scary when you understand that rejection is a huge part of it. With everything you gain, rejection (almost always) comes along first. Sometimes you need to apply to 200 jobs so you can find the perfect fit. So I might be the girl who has been rejected 100 times, but I am also the girl who has had 3 incredible internships that have been eye-opening for my career goals. With each of these positions, I was rejected by many other positions that were clearly not meant to be, but at the time it felt like a huge negative impact on my goals.
There is nothing easy about rejection. It is disheartening, it disrupts your drive and confidence while still job searching, and can make you feel under qualified for everything. As much as I hate the quote “There will always be someone smarter than you…,” it is exactly how internship rejection makes you feel. Every person is so dynamically different we cannot limit ourselves to a simple “they were smarter than me.” You have to do your best to keep your head high and understand that there will be another company out there where you will be a fit for them and they will be a fit for you.
Before you get around to finding that perfect fit, here are a few tips to help cope with the rejection…
Don’t forget to reply to the rejection email politely. Networking is everything and you never want to be unprofessional. You never know who knows who.
Treat yourself to a nice pint of Ben n Jerry’s half baked + put on a face mask or whatever you love to do for self care. But, just be sure to do something to reward yourself for trying.
Then, do ONE thing that will get you closer to your career: apply for a different position, send a follow-up email, or connect with someone on LinkedIn. This will make you feel productive and keep you from getting unmotivated after being rejected from a company.
THEN it’s time to put on your current favorite binge show and relax because rejection is inevitable and when one door closes, another one opens!
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