You didn’t get the job. So what?

Nikita Prokhorov
Sep 6, 2018 · 4 min read
Lewis Roberts@31_photography

To begin with, I would like to offer a disclaimer.

Everything that I write is going to be out of sympathy and understanding of how difficult & frustrating it can be to find a job — especially after it has been a while since you’ve held on to one. It also comes from the first-hand experience of applying for a plethora of jobs and receiving mostly rejections.

Ok, disclaimer over!

Here is a familiar scenario. You apply for a design job which, on paper, is ideal. Your skillset is spot on, your portfolio is a pixel-perfect match for what the agency is looking for, they call you in for an interview, which couldn’t have gone better, and then — you don’t get the job. The next few days (or weeks, in extreme cases) are spent in panic mode, and you may ask yourself…

…Why didn’t I get the job?
…They said my work was amazing. What happened?
…Can’t they see I was a perfect match for their job description?
…What did I do wrong?

You may get stuck for quite a bit of time trying to find the right answers, but I have a different suggestion for you.

GET OVER IT.

(Or for a nicer, less crude version, LET IT GO.)

I get it. It is not that simple, and doubly (or triply) so if you have been job hunting for a long time. Before diving into the ocean of self-pity, ask yourself this question: how long are you going to harp on that job rejection? Yes, it is perfectly fine, and necessary, to ‘mourn’ the loss of the potential job that you had your sights set on. But, while you can spend days allowing negative emotions to neutralize your confidence…why waste time on that? Instead of prolonging the negative period unnecessarily, your post-rejection ‘mourning’ can be much more productive.

  1. Be positive. I know you didn’t get that job you wanted, and that’s ok. After you get over the initial disappointment, get your mind right, and be positive.
  2. Figure out what you did right and what you did wrong. This is very challenging to do if you’re in a negative mindset. You may think that you did everything right, or that you screwed up royally across the board–both are equally deflating. Make sure that #1 is firmly in place, and then analyze the process from start to finish — from the first contact to the final rejection. Understand that you can do everything right 99% of the time, and you still may not get the job. In this case, it more important to understand the 1%.
  3. You can only control what YOU do. There are two sides to every situation, but you only have control over yours. Do what you need to on your end, and everything else will fall into place.
  4. Learn from every interview, whether it ends in a job or in a rejection. Every interview is a learning process, and every outcome contributes to your experience as a designer.

The preceding four steps take time to understand and apply. You can eventually use them to pinpoint specific reasons which cost you the job. However, there are only two possible scenarios for the job rejection. I call it the Law of P&P™.

PRACTICAL

If the job rejection is not personal (and it most likely isn’t), then it is practical. Maybe you’re not the right fit style-wise, despite the initial signs. Maybe you’re too experienced/inexperienced for the job. Maybe you want more money than they can offer. It could be a myriad of practical reasons. Since it is the interviewer’s decision, come fully prepared, do your best at the interview, and if you don’t get the job for practical reasons…LET IT GO.

PERSONAL

If the rejection is personal…so what? To explain this point, a joke from Mitch Hedberg seems most apropos. “You can’t please everyone all the time, and last night, those people were at my show.” Simply put…you may not click with the interviewer. Your personalities might clash from the first moment of the interview. The interviewer’s sense of humor may be offputting. You may not like their interviewing style, and that may subconsciously translate into how you conduct yourself in the interview. Regardless of who doesn’t mesh with whom, it is irrelevant. At the end of the interview, you may realize that you don’t want to work for them, or vice versa. It is as important to match personality-wise as it is to match skill-wise, because nobody wants to work for or with a talented jerk. If you don’t get the job for personal reasons…LET IT GO.

In the end, it comes down to two scenarios–you can use the four steps mentioned earlier to break them down to specific reasons. Use that post-rejection ‘mourning process’ to analyze and understand why you didn’t get the job, and treat it as a positive learning experience rather than a negative one. Once the ‘mourning process’ is finished, LET IT GO. It will be time to move onto the next job application, next interview, and drinks with your co-workers after your first week at the new job!

Nikita Prokhorov

Written by

Based in NYC. Lettering artist. Graphic designer. Ambigram designer. Pun creator. Design teacher.

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