The New Grad's Guide to Leveraging Rejection

In my address to the Class of 2015, I checked off all the commencement clichés short of “the world is your oyster.” (Regrettably, this one didn’t pass the editing gauntlet.)

Don’t get me wrong. I stand by what I wrote. You’re at an extremely exciting time in your life. A new chapter, if you will.

At the same time, anyone who just serves up sugar and fluff is doing you a great injustice. The months ahead of you will be great, but they will also be stressful, demoralizing, and even a little brutal as you take your number for the waiting game that is the job search.

It’s these months that will abruptly diffuse the euphoria of graduation and test your skills (and patience) as a new graduate. It's these months that lie between where you stand today and where you see yourself as you shuck the proverbial oyster that is this exciting new chapter of your life. 

If you’re still with me, this post is going to be blunt. It’s going to be sobering. It’s going to be crass. And it’s going to be honest.

The harsh reality is that you probably won’t find a job right out of college.

You’re on top of the world. You’ve earned that diploma and found yourself at a defining moment in your life... and then the rejection letters come in.

Just like that, you're tossed out into the real world, only to be dragged around for the next few weeks, maybe even the next few months, as the job search collects its toll.

In the United States alone, there are 1.85 million new graduates. 1.85 million competing for the same jobs.

You’ll all get a job. I’m not trying to make a political statement here. It will just take work. A lot of applications, a lot of interviews, and a lot of rejections.

To put this into perspective, the average UK grad in 2014 applied for 12 jobs before landing one. That’s 11 job rejections for every one job offer. If you took the advice in my last post and applied for jobs slightly above your qualifications, you’re in for even more rejection letters. For some, this count is upwards of 200.

And that's okay. That means you're evaluating all your options. But it still blows.

Going through my own job search one year ago, I took things pretty personally. I spent time and energy on my applications, got called in to meet the family, and eight interviews and one 6-hour technical assignment later, I got a two-line rejection email thanking me for my time. Or worse, most companies didn't even dignify my application with a rejection letter.

I was left demoralized. Hopeless.

Then, I took a step back. I realized it for what it was: A numbers game. 

Today, more than any other time in recent history, it’s an employer’s market. Companies see so many applications that they have machines and algorithms make the first cuts. The rare application that makes it through gets a whopping six seconds of human consideration. Six seconds to assess your career potential.

For every candidate an employer extends an offer to, they have to turn away 50 more, making the odds low for even the best students.

For the Amazons, Googles, and Apples of the world (read: the Fortune Best Companies To Work For), this number can easily get up to the hundreds. Google, in fact, hires only 0.004% of its applicants. That’s 4/10 of 1 percent.

Throughout this all, it’s important to recognize that rejection isn’t anything personal. 

You could have received that rejection for a myriad of reasons that you’ll probably never know, but in most cases it has nothing to do with you. More likely, one of those 50 other candidates simply had a little more experience, met a slightly more precise or pressing need, or meshed a tad more culturally.                   

Whatever the reason, it’s not you. It’s them.

At the same time, rejection letters aren’t all bad. In fact, they might just be what you need to propel your career.

By the time you receive that rejection letter, you’ve invested a fair amount of time into your application. You’ve seen the office, and you’ve met the team. Yet, for whatever reason, things didn’t work out in your favor.

Instead of getting bummed out, take a deep breath, smile, and follow these five steps:

1. Don’t take it personally.

As we’ve seen, the job search is a numbers game. You’ll be dragged through endless interview loops, you’ll be left to play the waiting game, and you’ll never hear a thing from the majority of companies you grace with an application.

It’s easy to get discouraged in the process, as I definitely did, but don’t let the system get the best of you.

Keep your head up high, and remember that you’re so much more than a résumé.

2. Keep your dignity.

How you handle a rejection letter says just as much about your potential as an employee as how you handle a cover letter.

Instead of getting discouraged or angry, let each rejection advance your odds in your next interview. Write a well thought-out reply thanking the recruiter for the opportunity to interview and showing your appreciation or fascination for something meaningful you took out of the experience (a story the interviewer shared, a lessons you learned, anything to make them know you still care and have nothing but goodwill). By responding positively to bad news, you’ll stand out from all the other candidates and perfectly situate yourself for the next time they open a similar role – which they, no doubt, will.

When in doubt, stick with the ABCs: Always Be Closing.

Assume every recruiter is talking with one another and focus on what you want them saying about your candidacy at the end of the day. Keep your options open, and don’t burn any bridges.

3. Don’t let a rejection letter mean the end of a relationship.

If you made it far enough to interview, you have an internal champion in the office. Use him or her to your advantage. Reconnect, thank them for the interview, and restate your interest in the event that a similar role opens up.

It can be slightly humiliating to reach out to someone after getting a rejection letter, but believe it or not, recruiters and hiring managers genuinely are nice people. At the end of the day, they want to see you succeed.

Just by reaching back out and taking the time to give a thoughtful reply to a rejection letter, I’ve had employers offer to audit my resume, refer me for other positions, endorse me on LinkedIn, and ask to stay in touch for future opportunities.

4. Ask for feedback.

You’d be surprised by how many candidates don’t ask for feedback. As a matter of habit, I conclude every interview with “Do you have any lingering reservations about my qualifications that I might be able to address?”

By doing this, you’re ensuring that you have the last word in the interview. You’re giving yourself a chance to hone in on any hesitations and accurately address your candidacy in light of those concerns. More importantly, you’re showing humility and vulnerability. You’re saying you’re not perfect but you go out of your way to collect feedback and improve.

The same can be said of the rejection letter. Follow up and ask if the hiring manager has any feedback or advice that you can use in your next interview. It may be something out of your control (like another candidate having a bit more experience) or it may something you can change (like using more concrete examples or fine-tuning the way you present yourself in an interview).

Regardless of what it was, you’ll never know if you don't ask.

5. Iterate and improve.

Last but not least, use your newfound feedback. Each interview should feel a little more natural than the one before, and the more you can diagnose your past applications, the better you’ll be.

Learn from your mistakes. Show that you’re coachable. Take the time to continually refresh your resume, cover letter, and elevator pitch, and watch as the odds shift in your favor.

Of course, hindsight is bliss and you’ll no doubt ascertain your own job search strategies over the next couple months, but I hope you find these five tips helpful for getting started.

Whatever you do, be persistent and be confident. The road to success isn’t as straightforward as the typical commencement speech implies, but you’ll all reach your destination one way or another.

Now, Class of 2015, go forth and shuck that proverbial oyster.

This post was written as part of the #Graduation series, which is tied to LinkedIn’s new student editorial calendar. Follow the stories here or write your own.

About the Author: Alex Walz is a 2014 graduate of Seattle University. He manages content for Apptentive, the leading enterprise platform for mobile customer communications, and loves to mentors young entrepreneurs. He frequently writes, speaks, and tweets on all things marketing and career development. Follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter.