{"id":2419,"date":"2014-11-13T04:36:35","date_gmt":"2014-11-13T04:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.hult.edu\/?p=2419"},"modified":"2019-07-25T08:07:33","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T08:07:33","slug":"befriend-rejection-reflection-in-your-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hult.edu\/blog\/befriend-rejection-reflection-in-your-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Befriend rejection and reflection\u2014They will help your career"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a hard but inescapable fact: there\u2019s no such thing as a job search free of rejection. Across a career lifetime, most of us receive as many rejections as job offers.<\/p>\n

Just as a baseball player experiences his share of home runs and strikeouts during a season, so too will you face your own share of hits and misses during a job search. Successful hitters fail 70% of the time, but they give it their all every time they\u2019re at bat\u2014they do not give up. The sooner you understand the way the game is played, the faster you will become skilled at playing it.<\/p>\n

Rejection can help your career, not hinder it<\/b><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that rejection hurts, and may seem unfair. But I\u2019m here to tell you that it doesn\u2019t serve you, the job seeker, to hold that view. I\u2019m here to deliver the insight that you would otherwise piece together over time: look past the disappointment in the moment and you\u2019ll see that rejection is like a tough coach. If you are determined, it\u2019s the type of coach who can push you to the brink so you become stronger, more capable and firmly resilient.<\/p>\n

Just three weeks ago, one of our international MBA graduates\u00a0seeking work in the US was crushed when an employer withdrew an employment offer. Discouraged and frustrated, the student told me he was beginning to lose hope of finding a job in the US.<\/p>\n

After a day or two of deep despair, he rallied and resumed his networking with intensity, reaching out to contacts he had developed over the last year. Keen to get employed quickly, he honed in on his very best skills and leveraged his prior experience as a mechanical engineer in the oil and gas industry. He targeted oil and gas producers, suppliers and services firms to find employers looking for talent in the US. His efforts paid off. Ten days ago he had his first interview with a Colorado-based oil and gas data analytics firm. Six days after the first interview, he received a job offer (with a higher salary than the job he lost) that included an H-1B visa<\/a> sponsorship. He moves to Colorado next week.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t give up, no matter what<\/b><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what I tell my students every year: job seekers who persevere and do not give up<\/i> land jobs. It\u2019s an unshakeable truth. And those who also plan carefully and act strategically secure the types of jobs that serve as important building blocks for their careers<\/i>. If you\u2019re shaking your head in incredulity, I understand\u2014this is much easier to say (or type) than do. But over and over I see that those who persevere, succeed.<\/p>\n

Interviews are also powerful teachers<\/b><\/p>\n

Business students often start the school year with a broad set of possible career choices and loosely constructed objectives. After a month or two of networking and informational interviews, including some progress and a few setbacks, highly-motivated job seekers typically find their job search \u201crhythm\u201d and get closer to crystallizing their career goals. They hone in on the skills that employers are seeking, and they do one very important thing: they use every interview they go through as an opportunity to improve.<\/p>\n

Each interview has the power to teach you something about yourself, but it requires a little digging and introspection. Bits of self-awareness are not always easy to deduce, so it is helpful to take a step back and ask some critical questions once an interview is over:<\/p>\n