Graduates, Respect Your Failure

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One of the key events that cross almost every graduate job seeker’s path is getting those few (or even 100’s of rejections). Getting a graduate job rejection is tough and it may demotivate some graduates. But sometimes, graduates get a job rejection and shrug it off without a thought.

graduation (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Graduates deal with rejections in a variety of different ways. I am not writing about how to deal with rejections, for that see our Editor’s post on dealing with graduate job rejections in a healthy way.

But I am writing to remind graduates that they should respect their failure. Not getting a graduate job is not your mistake, but not learning from what may have gone wrong is!

1. Review Your Graduate Application Forms.

Your graduate job application form is the best teacher of what may have gone wrong. Have a look at it again, see what you could have done. If nothing else, remember the graduate application answers and the approach you took with it and make sure you don’t make similar mistakes again. You can read about tips on graduate application forms from Career Geek Blog.

2. Get Feedback

Try and get some feedback on your graduate job application or interview stages. When graduates are rejected for graduate jobs, they shrug their shoulders and go: ‘Oh well, I will look elsewhere’ – that is the wrong attitude! I am not asking you to dwell on the rejection, but at least make the effort to get some feedback and analyse what you can do better.

3. Stick to That Industry Sector

Many graduates miss this trick. Once you (unfortunately) receive a graduate job rejection, then instead of looking in a completely opposite direction, look for jobs in similar industries. This way the information and background research you have done on the industry is sustainable and can help you in applications with competitors of the organisation you applied and were rejected for.

4. Talk About Your Rejection

Personally, I always preferred talking about my job rejections (mainly internships). But I could understand why some graduates might be held back from talking about their graduate job rejections. The reason I prefer speaking about it is because it helps me learn about other people’s experiences; and also share some lessons in the student/graduate community about my experience with any particular application/interview. It also helps in getting a job rejection and the negative emotions it brings with it out of your system. Remember, speaking about your graduate job rejection doesn’t mean you are a failure!

5. Respect Your Failure

Once you are rejected for a graduate job, accept it and get on with it. Don’t bad mouth the organisation, don’t be put off and demotivated. Learn from it and remember it. Chin up, wake up the next morning and give it a go again. Let’s see how long someone can keep you out of work. Not long graduates, not long.

I know things are easier said than done, but I only write what I have been through, and what I learnt from it. I share these experiences to help you not to make the same mistakes.

If you have any career questions, or want to leave feedback, please comment below! I would love to hear what you think about this post.