Rejected!

I’m half Irish Catholic thanks to my paternal lineage. So when the movie Rudy came out in the early 90s my family became super fans. Who doesn’t love a story of triumph out of struggle?

The film starring Sean Astin chronicles the life of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger. He grew up in a working-class Catholic family that adored Notre Dame football. Not having the size, grades, or talent to be enlisted on the team didn’t stop Rudy from trying. Between his decision to leave home and finally running onto the field as an actual player included numerous rejections.

Have you ever witnessed someone going after an impossible task and wondered, “Why are they continuing to pursue something with no results from their efforts?”

Ahead of this publication, I polled my LinkedIn audience with this question:

Have you been rejected from a job opportunity before?

Might seem like an easy “yes.” But the results are:

3% = No

97% = Yes

Some have been blessed to move effortlessly from one position to another, perhaps due to their skill in networking. But as the poll shows, many more have walked through the hardship of a big fat NO in their face while pursuing a job opportunity.

Rejection is incredibly tough to deal with. But I don’t think it has to be when you learn how to manage it. That’s what we’re focused on here!

The First No

Whether you’re devastated or not by the first rejection you receive has a great deal to do with your pinned expectations to the pursuit of that job opportunity. High hopes where you have imagined a champagne toast upon receiving the job offer, but all you have done is hit “submit” to the application…. Well, this is likely to yield a deflated confidence when you aren’t called back for an interview. Sadly, disappointment here can lead to a negatively changed mindset as you approach the next job opening. And that will greatly affect how you show up in your networking, cover letter writing, and application process.

Remain hopeful without everything riding on only one option. At the beginning of any pursuit, hold loosely to the position as your worth is not decided by a company’s yes or no to you.

The 50th No

The exaggeration is intentional. If you are getting a lot of rejections, you are not aiming sufficiently at the target. I have touched on the Job Search Strategy needed to yield results and encourage you to read through that if you’re not seeing what you want.

If however, you are doing the work associated with a targeted and tailored job search, then read on.

The Fiery Trial

Rudy encountered so many setbacks and rejections that it seemed foolish to continue in many ways. He had almost a ridiculous amount of tenacity as he pursued this dream of playing for Notre Dame, but there were moments portrayed in the film where he doubted. In one instance, Rudy is going to quit. After not making the dress list yet again, he doesn’t see the point. I love what the character Fortune says to him:

“You’re 5-foot nothin’, 100 and nothin’, and you have barely a speck of athletic ability. And you hung in there with the best college football players in the land for 2 years. And you’re gonna walk outta here with a degree from the University of Notre Dame. In this life, you don’t have to prove nothin’ to nobody but yourself. And after what you’ve gone through, if you haven’t done that by now, it ain’t gonna never happen. Now go on back.”

There are two critical things I want you to understand here:

1.) Trials produce perseverance and perseverance produces character and character births hope.

Multiple rejections do not mean you are not gaining something. For the love of all things wonderful in life, do not give up. There is another favorite quote of mine from Father Cavanaugh: “In thirty-five years of religious study, I’ve come up with only two hard, inconvertible facts: there is a God, and I’m not Him.” We don’t always get to know the “why” behind what we’re going through, but I believe God is big enough to ask the question and encourage you to do so if you’re facing a long drought in your job search.

2.) Get someone in your circle who can tell you like it is. 

The trials we walk out in life are designed to mold us into someone better, not crush us into nothing. Embrace that process and determine to do better the next time if you “missed it” the last time. Only having people who tell you what you want to hear versus what you need to hear is dangerous. If someone cares about you, they love you enough to tell you the truth. Listen to their counsel and weigh it against what you know for yourself.

I am rooting for you!!! Get back on the field and keep going.