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Cat
Cat

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What I've Learned From Close-call Interviews

You did great!! But...

You did so well and the team loves you! However...

You were SO CLOSE--

I could tell from the sound of the recruiter's voice that, after a month of fretting, questioning my worth, building up my hope for a bright future for me, my fiancΓ©, friends, and family-- everything has, once again, been pushed further out of my reach.

This one hurt pretty bad, not gonna lie. I kept hearing positive feedback! I mean, we were talking compensation and when they would get started on drafting an offer.

I really thought I had it.

Then the rug gets pulled out from under me, of course.

The most important thing I learned from this experience is:

Never, ever believe anything anyone says until the offer is in front of your face with your name on it.

Remember: you always have control over your own actions, reactions, and decisions.

And if they didn't pick you, it's their loss. Don't waste time fretting about why it wasn't you or singing the hymn of the impostor on repeat.

It's fine to ask for feedback, just as long as you act on it and show improvement.

Move on from the rejection as quickly as possible; time waits for no one.

What is one way you recover from--yet another--rejection?


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Oldest comments (4)

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willzmu profile image
Wilfred

Thanks for sharing Cat!

I have received several rejection emails these past couple months. I havent reached the call-interview stage in a lot of them. I still have some way to go but your post gave me confidence!

Wishing you all the best!

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cat profile image
Cat

Thanks Wilfred! I'm glad my post gave you confidence. You'll reach that stage of interviews soon enough, and hopefully will get an offer (or more)!

Good luck out there!

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cboles profile image
Chris Boles

Thank you for sharing.
I've gotten several rejections myself. While they all stink, I just tell myself that it's all part of the game of job hunting. The farther I get in the process, the more I learn about how to get better.

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Erin Bensinger

My favorite mantra for recovering from a rejection is "The job was probably internally promised to someone else, and they just shared the job posting to cover their bases," especially if they don't have any meaningful feedback as to why I wasn't chosen.