What to Do After You Didn’t Get the Job

Didn’t get the job? What Next?

When you apply for job vacancies you aim to land a new job to start or improve your career. You can go through various interviews up till later stages, and the employer would still inform you of not being accepted and that is normal.

Why shouldn’t you get disappointed?

It is still important to remember not all interviews will turn into job offers. You may be eager to hear good news from your interviewer and receiving a rejection email can be disappointing, so you should prepare yourself for this kind of news through certain steps.

You should perceive these rejection emails as learning lessons that will add up to your experience and knowledge. When you are not accepted for a job, you need to understand the reasons behind the rejection.

Ask your recruiter to provide the reasons they have decided not to give you the job. In all cases, let us go through what you need to do in case you don’t get the job you have applied for.

4 Steps To Recover After You Didn’t Get the Job

1- It is Okay to Feel Disappointed, But Not That Much

After feeling motivated and excited to receive the news that you got the job, you must feel disappointed if you are not accepted. Let your emotions out and take your time to process your feelings. You have already exerted a lot of effort into preparing for the interview questions and making your own research about the job position.

After you have sufficient time to grieve, you need to reflect on the interview and assess your performance. You should be ready to turn this disappointing experience into a learning experience. Go back to the answers you have provided and try to understand what might have lowered your chance of getting accepted.

2- Reflect on your Interview

As mentioned before, your recruiter can provide you with the rejection reasons that would help you get ready for your next interview. Moreover, you can check the job requirements again and go through all of them.

You may have missed expressing one of the needed skills that might have boosted your chance for the job. If you don’t have these skills, you need to have an action plan for yourself to learn these important skills.

Reflecting on your interview shouldn’t only be regarding the negative points only. You can choose answers you have provided that you have felt were fulfilling in showing your skills and experience. Build up on these answers on your next interviews to ensure succeeding and getting the job.

3- Follow up on your Interview

Your interviewer has managed to reach out to you with the rejection reasons. You have already taken your time to reflect on the interview process and what were your strengths points and your areas of improvement.

It is time to reach back to your interviewer, even though you may be feeling disappointed. It is a sign you don’t have hard feelings and that you are professional. You can send them a follow-up email in a few days thanking them for the feedback.

In addition, you can request them to reach back in the future for new vacancies. You will leave a good impression about your willingness to pursue your career and join them when it is appropriate.

If you have decided to develop new skills that were required for the position and your career development, take your time to master these skills and then you can keep in touch with this employer.

Every now and then, you can send follow-up emails to check if there are new opportunities and that you are now more ready for the interview than the last time. If you have managed to have a second chance, you have already proven you are worthy before and you may have a shorter time to get accepted this time.

4- Must Keep Trying

As long as you have managed to take some time to reflect on your interview and grieve failure, you don’t have to let it take over your motivation and spirit. You should consider it part of the learning curve and you need to keep applying to other jobs until you land your dream job.

Success doesn’t happen from one attempt and part of the experience is persistence. Pursuing a career is not easy and you should be ready to overcome all the obstacles to achieve your goals.

Reasons why you Don’t Get the Job

• Your Qualifications

This is probably the most common reason for job rejection. Employers are usually trying to find the right candidate for the position.

While you might be fit for the role, there are other candidates who could have more experience or qualifications than you. This should be a motivation for you to improve your career so that you would easily get the job you are applying for.

• The Working Environment and Culture

During the interview, the HR will try to understand your behavioural traits and your preferences. You may prefer professional environments or you may prefer a more casual working environment.

There is no right answer, they will try to make sure you will blend into the working environment. If they feel the working culture or environment is not suitable for you, they may decide to move forward with other candidates.

• External Factors

A sudden shift in the market or the economic situation may cause the company to freeze the hiring process. They may need to re-assess their financial situation and their return on investment from every position.

Freezing the hiring process may indicate they can continue in the near future. You need to communicate with the hiring manager to make sure about the freeze duration and whether you may wait for a reply or pursue new opportunities.

In Conclusion

Getting rejected from one job doesn’t affect your career growth, you need to be up to the challenge. If you feel you need to have career counselling or advice, aim for it as it might drastically improve your chances of getting accepted into your dream job.