After investing plenty of time and emotion into applying for a new job or promotion, checking out the position is not yours can have a negative impact on your confidence and your desire to try again. During this reader submission, Dr. Poppy Gibson and D.r Robert Morgan from the United Kingdom share their three steps for moving forward after being an unsuccessful candidate for a teaching job or promotion.
Taking a leap of religion and applying for a new teaching job, a replacement role, or a promotion, takes courage and self-confidence. Job searching may be a dynamic process that involves several steps of self-regulation.
Waiting to work out if you are shortlisted takes patience. Attending the interview is often nerve-wracking and exhausting, which is not taking into account the time needed to prepare for possible interview questions, perhaps making a presentation or teaching a gaggle activity, and planning the right outfit.
But what about when this whole emotional rollercoaster ride has been for nothing, and you're contacted to say that you have been ‘unsuccessful’? We can stay motivated and keep looking onwards and upwards in the face of rejection, by following these three steps:
Ask for feedback
Reflect and reassess
Stay focused and make an idea
Doing your best at that moment
Before browsing the three steps in more detail, we wish to offer you this phrase to tell yourself if you are rejected from an interview: ‘it’s not me’.
Professor Steve Peters in his 2011 book The Chimp Paradox discusses how people can make life-enhancing decisions by balancing the 2 areas of the brain, the frontal and therefore the limbic (which he calls the human and the chimp, proportionally). We propose that using Peters’ example of the dialogue between the two brains can be applied to coping with the situation of being rejected for an interview.
The human brain bases confidence, during a given scenario, on doing one’s best to succeed in a level of achievement that allows the individual to realistically deal with the consequence. The chimp brain, however, believes that achievement has got to be achieved, and subsequently it is unable to deal with the consequences.
This may be summarized as: ‘...the two choices for confidence are: to base your confidence on your belief in your ability or to base it on doing all of your best’ (Peters, 2011, p. 321).
Therefore, once you are preparing for a job interview the focus should be on basing it on doing your best at that moment in time, instead of having to focus on achieving your best. Peters would argue that this subtle difference will allow you to deal with the consequences, which for the aim of this article, would be interview rejection.
Having the arrogance to do your best nature has to be founded in oneal preparation. You would like to seriously consider why you want to work in that particular school and role; you have to engage in research; you need to prepare for the interview by practicing or reading about interview techniques and etiquette. You can't simply wing it!
If you're prepared for the interview, the human brain will allow you to deal with the consequences far more enjoyably, and arguably professionally, than the chimp brain would allow. Now, back to 3 steps:
1. Invite feedback
The feedback that we receive can affect how our behaviors continue; feedback, or a negative experience perhaps through slow response from the employer or maybe lack of feedback, can leave us reluctant to continue the work hunt. Top quality feedback, whether we are not successful in the job or promotion, is often less damaging for our self-confidence and self-efficacy; don’t be afraid to invite feedback, but don’t be too hard on yourself if the feedback isn't helpful or detailed.
2. Reflect and reassess
In reflecting on the result, ask yourself, ‘How much did I would like that role? How badly it hurts to hear I was not successful?’ Was it a dream, or are you secretly relieved at dodging a bullet of extra workload and longer hours?
Perhaps not having employment that doesn’t suit you is a better outcome than having it? Employers have a set criterion to select a successful candidate. You'll think that you did not meet the criteria, but it might be that the criteria were not in your Favor. Perhaps there was an excessive amount of expected of the candidate!
Reflect on your application and interview. Were you professional and enthusiastic?
Were you basing your confidence on achieving this, or had you not appropriately prepared? In other words, you probably did not do your best and this was pointed out to you.
Sometimes interview feedback can help us add up to our own preparation and is useful in helping us to plug gaps in knowledge, skills, and professionalism.
3. Stay focused and make an idea
Although the initial sting of disappointment may cause you to feel that you don’t want to apply for anything ever again, it's going to be worth taking a new perspective.
If you probably did not do your best because you were under prepared, then that's an obvious starting point for reflection. However, if you probably did your best and feedback from the interview panel highlighted where you could improve, see it as free advice, a learning opportunity. This will motivate you in creating a focused plan that should really match your expertise and experience to the job you are suited to.
Some final thoughts
To conclude, even as we may say there are plenty of fish in the sea, there'll be many more doors for you to open and several other opportunities for you to explore.
Perhaps this rejection went on for a reason, and something better is expecting you? Whether you believe in that or not, the foremost important thing is to use this opportunity to reflect and refocus and remind yourself that you are valuable and worthy.
If the varsity did not see your potential, there'll be another better-suited school out there for you. If you probably did not get the promotion, ask for feedback, and choose whether you want to try again.
Underpinning all this recommendation has to be the heart-searching question – Did I do my best at the time of the interview? Sometimes that may be the consolation that is simply required. Perhaps it's just that you have still not met the school that wants to employ you.
Job interviews – How to deal with rejections
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