So you didn't get the job...

So you didn't get the job...

This can be hard to take. Often you don't even know the reasons why. Do you want to know the reasons why?

These can be tricky feelings to deal with. You are the person you want to be, with the experience you have. Do you want to be told that you aren't as good as someone else? What will you change if you found out why you didn't get the job?

These are all important questions to answer. For yourself. No-one else can tell you what to do with the answers you may get. Firstly, give yourself a little time to come to terms with the fact you didn't get it (and I mean little). Then pick yourself up and determine what to do next.

Let's break this down into a few different scenarios.

You didn't get the job... this time!

If this is your dream role, what made it so? What was it about this job or this company that compelled you to apply and want this job? Make a list. Would you apply again if the job came up again for the same company, would you have done anything to change their decision the next time. If you managed to garner some feedback, a lot of it will be focussed on the views of that hiring manager and perhaps that company. If you want the same role somewhere else, what differences would there be for the different company?

Once you have a list of reasons, you have an action plan. If you want to work for that company, keep tabs on that brand; now you have met someone there that may help you when it comes to finding out more. If it is the role you care most about, you know what you need to do to get that role in other companies. If it is both, I suggest you work your butt off; to make yourself a compelling candidate if/when that role comes up again. Whilst I am all for following your dreams, you may want to think about putting a little more flexibility into them.

If you didn't want the role so much, that may have come across in the application process. I would suggest that you aim for roles that you care about and really want and don't waste too much of your precious time on those you aren't so fussed about.

Was your experience relevant?

This is a funny one. I would say that most hiring managers hope they can have someone parachute straight into a role with the minimum of training or induction needed, but the problem with this is that it creates an unrealistic job description; for managers, hiring someone who is already doing the exact same role elsewhere will mean that their growth within the role is limited. So, show your skills and share your enthusiasm for learning the skills you don’t already have; get better at answering why with compelling answers.

Show yourself to be enthusiastic and knowledgeable about things that associate with the experience requested. In my experience, I will take enthusiasm and research above qualifications (obviously a sample of 1 may not help you). This knowledge and research needs to be highlighted in your cover letter and referenced in your CV. If you are aiming for a job that on paper you are not fully qualified for, I would suggest you start meeting people in the industry and companies you are focussing on. Enthusiasm works better face to face!

With this post, I don't want to encourage you to 'be more realistic' and aim for 'any job you can get'. What I want to do is to focus you on what you really want to do and what you need to do to get there. Using the hard knock of rejection can put us in the right frame of mind to stand back up, brush ourselves off and head for somewhere we *want* to go. Self-reflection is what I want you to focus on, but on your terms, not just because someone else has decided you are not right for a certain role.

Find out more about our guest blogger Ghilaine Chan

Ghilaine is passionate about allowing people to do their best work and delight others

Ghilaine helps people to operate fast growing businesses in a productive and streamlined way, keeping an eye on time and money, whilst increasing motivation and improving customer relationships in a fast paced, changing environment. She brings order to chaos and creates scalable processes around the business, empowering them to delight their customers.

She works with tech based or enabled companies who are looking to disrupt their industries, but know that people are at the centre of their success and helping them manage their teams to: 

• Do their best work and delighting others
• Create some boundaries, but not cages
• Know they are acting for a purpose
• Determine which part they play, that what they receive enables them and what they produce is useful
• Have autonomy over how and when they produce

She has over 15 years' experience in scaling international business functions for technology companies, within their support and consultancy organisations.

Ghilaine is a graduate of London College of Fashion (now part of University of the Arts: London) with a degree in Product Development. She is a Mentor with Microsoft Ventures,UpRising and Outbox Incubator as well as an Approved Business Coach with Growth Accelerator, now part of Business Growth Services. 

Want to know more? Connect with Ghilaine on LinkedIn, follow her on Twitter and visit her website, Ghilaine & Co.