After waiting for months, you finally get an email back from the job recruiter. You eagerly open it only to see,

"After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that..."

A man in Victorian attire with his arms wide saying,

Rejection can feel discouraging. I know because I've had to read countless of these emails myself. You might have heard from others that you should learn from your failures.

But how exactly do you learn from these generic rejection emails?

Don't worry! You can learn from rejection and improve your chances of getting hired next time.

Check Your Emotional State

Take some time to first process your disappointment. Being in a poor emotional state makes it difficult to learn from your experience.

Ask yourself: "How am I feeling today? How have I been feeling this week?"

Rejection can be tough. Try not to blame the company or take it personally. Sometimes luck can play big role and it might not have anything to do with you or your ability.

Reflect On The Experience

We want to reflect with curiosity, not judgment. Ask yourself: "What can I learn from this experience to improve my chances of success in future applications?"

A basketball player scratching his face as he is thinking about something.

There are many ways to become a more attractive candidate but here are some main areas to consider:

An icon with a book and lightbulb in the middle

Skills and Qualifications

  • Do I have all the qualifications and skills I need?

  • What are some core skills I'm missing?

Application Material

  • Did I follow instructions carefully?

  • Does my CV highlight all the skills/experience they are looking for?

Interview Performance

  • Did I confidently present myself during the interview?

  • Was I specific about my past experiences?

Company and Culture Fit

  • Am I a good cultural fit for this company?

  • Do I align with the company's vision and mission?

To learn how to assess if a company's culture is a good fit, read How to Find Out if a Company is For You.

Ask For Feedback

To get a better perspective on our areas of improvement, it's important to receive feedback from others. Share your cover letter and resume, or practice simulating the interview so that they can give you quality feedback.

Here are some ideas for people who can give you valuable feedback:

  • mentor/career coach

  • someone working in similar roles/industries

  • colleagues or peers

  • job interviewer/hiring manager

A person writing on three pieces of papers with a pen. Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

Yes, you can ask the hiring manager or the recruiter! It can feel scary but it shows your commitment to growth.

For more information on how to do this, check out Harvard Business Review's recommended approach to how candidates can respond to rejection emails to improve future hiring chances.

Quiz

What are some great ways to get good feedback on your past job application? Select all that apply:

Identify Patterns And Look For Insights

Once you've taken time to reflect and gathered insight from others, you can start looking for patterns.

  • What are some common themes among feedback?

  • Which feedback stood out to you? Why?

  • Have you made any observations about what's been working well for you?

A closeup of Zach Galifianakis' eyes with math formulas floating around in his face.

You don't need perfect insight — you just need a good hypothesis that you can test in your next round of applications.

Maybe after reflecting and reading other people's feedback, you noticed that you...

  • didn't highlight a core skill for that role

  • gave vague responses during the interview

  • forgot to add keywords from the job description

You can test these hypotheses by trying them out and see if your success rates change!

Set Actionable Goals

Now that you have some ideas on areas of improvement, it's time to put them into action.

Write down some specific actions you want to take to improve your next job application. Here are some examples:

Identifying growth areas doesn't guarantee that you'll get the next job. But each time you reflect, gather feedback, and put them into action, you're gathering valuable insights for future success.

Light bulb turns on brightly.

Try It Out!

There is an icon with a paper and a hand holding a pencil.

Lisa wants to be a data analyst. After multiple rejections, she worked up the courage to ask the job recruiter for feedback, she learned that her portfolio didn't demonstrate her proficiency in SQL, a database management language.

Quiz

What should Lisa do? Select all that apply:

Take Action

Turn these experiences into a valuable learning experience!

A baby girl gives a thumbs up. The text reads:

License:

Your feedback matters to us.

This Byte helped me better understand the topic.

Get support to take action on this Byte