What I learnt from Rejection
My journey as a young job seeker
TLDR;
- I have attended 2 multinational company interviews
- In total, I have attended 7 interviews from 6 companies
- I have been rejected 4 times (twice from the same company)
- Now, I have worked in 3 companies
- Now, I have written 1 resignation letter
- Now, turned down 2 offers
- Now, I have made a counter-offer and won my negotiation
- I currently match make vacancies to the under-employed as well as coach people on the application process
- After all this struggle, I might end up an entrepreneur (sad right? LOL)
Apparently my TLDR; is even Too Long To Read…LOL
In the course of my job search I have grown by leaps and bounds in the art and science of making job applications as well as becoming a good interviewee.
Some of the things I did were:
- Paid for a crash course on the Finance Industry, Investment Banking, Job Application and Interview Tips.
- Took on a few leadership and managerial roles, itemizing from the beginning what I would like to say about my time there.
- Networked aggressively with colleagues and seniors (ranged from attending meet-ups, conferences, one-time events etc).
- Harnessed the power of GOOGLE.
- Told my story before it even started (I figured out the job qualifications early enough and then start organizing my experiences to suite them).
- Got a powerful social media presence (500+ connections on LinkedIn, 1000+ Followers on Twitter, Personal Website) — I used this to maintain the contacts I networked with in number 2 above.
- I bathed (still do) in blog posts and intellectual online forums like Medium and Quora (averaging 5 a day).
- Had a Role Model (still in search of a Mentor).
- APPLIED! — there were a lot of times I would see big opportunities and doubt myself; but guess what? the application process is a learning process.
- Engaged in INTERNSHIPS — can’t be overemphasized! (then I used wIntern to apply but been a while I was on there; now I kind of support the guys stutern
There is still a lot I can say on the issue of career progression. But I would update the list as I remember.
One thing that has helped me through all of these is the fact that:
Everyday is a story
The word HISTORY comes from the fact that as each day goes by; the stories stack up thereby forming a HIgh STORY => HISTORY. (we teach stuff like this @successcongress)
In the nearest future I hope to have a seminar for young people treading this path. Currently, I am the Lead Speaker and President of The Success Congress.
Please feel free to drop your suggestions for undergraduates and don’t forget to follow us @successcongress (reference this post for a follow back).
Thank you for reading, if you learnt anything kindly give this post a recommend. You can also leave me a comment on inquiries or say hello.
