Facing the Fear of Rejection

I saw a post on LinkedIn today that talked about the value of rejection. Overall, I agree with the author. But, as usual, there are caveats.

It is entirely possible that expectations should be lowered when searching for a job. I’ve seen far too many people fresh out of school with zero experience applying to senior level positions. By all means, push your boundaries! You don’t know how far you can go until you actually try to make that leap.

But it’s also incredibly important to truly self-reflect and have a game plan for your career. Jumping straight from Bachelor in Business Administration to applying to be the Senior Director of Sales at a Fortune 500 company just doesn’t make sense.

But, as I mentioned, I also completely understand the goal of the author’s post. Each rejection teaches you a little something more about yourself and your career aspirations. I have interviewed many times when not even actively looking for a job. It keeps you sharp. It lets you know what’s trending and what’s expected of people in your field where you may be blind to it from within the walls of your current organization.

Any time I have received a rejection I immediately follow it up with an email to the hiring manager asking them what I might improve on to make myself a more competitive candidate the next time. I can’t quantify the number of things I have learned about gaps in my skillset and industry knowledge that have come from failed interviews.

So, get out there! Apply for jobs. Push yourself just beyond where you feel you should be. Growth doesn’t come without challenge.

But more than anything: Always be learning. Always be growing.