How to deal with rejection

Advice Editor's Picks

Rejection sucks. But not getting that job offer likely has very little to do with your actual creative talent. If you made it to the interview, you were there for a reason. They saw your work, and were impressed enough to want to spend their time talking with you.

As someone who spent 20 years in the creative industry, continually climbing the ladder, hiring creatives and interviewing for countless roles myself, I’ve experienced those cry-into-your-pillow-and-eat-a-whole-pizza rejections for jobs I thought were “perfect.” I just couldn’t understand why it didn’t work out when I felt like it should.

But after having those difficult experiences I can tell you with 100% certainty that there IS a long-game here. And there is another way to process rejection.

Here are 5 things we can gain from rejection:

1) Rejection offers us the chance to receive honest feedback so we can understand how others see us and improve our self-promotional approach.

2) Rejection allows us to take a pause, and reevaluate what is truly important (and aligned) to who we are as creatives, and what we want for our creative career.

3) Rejection protects us from places, people, and situations that are not in our best interests, or from organizations that are polished on the outside, but toxic on the inside.

4) Rejection makes us stronger and more resilient, which greatly improves our success rate on the job as creative professionals, as well as our creative execution.

5) Rejection offers us the chance to examine our potential mistakes, and take the time to correct them, so we can get it right when it really counts.

Just remember that you chose this career because there is something inside you that knows you were meant for big things. And they are out there for you, waiting until you’ve gotten all those practice rounds in. So keep going, keep practicing, keep learning, keep improving. And ask for help when you need it. Because the right thing isn’t going to be ready until YOU actually are. 💖