If you have ever applied for a job (which unless you work for your family business you probably have) chances are you have had to deal with rejection either at application stage or interview. Some of you may have even been dismissed from a job if the last recession is anything to go by. Rejection in work comes in a number of different forms and is usually followed by friends and family telling you “It wasn’t meant to be” or “Something better will come along”. These words don’t come as much comfort however here are some prime examples of how people who have been turned down in the past have gone on to forge highly successful careers! It’s time to Look on the bright side of Rejection:
Bill Gates
That’s right, Bill Gates who at the age of 31 became the Worlds youngest self made Billionaire once faced rejection in his career! Not only did Gates drop out of Harvard University (not that I’m suggesting you quit your studies just now!) but he also co-owned a failed business called Traf-O-Data. Failure like this would dishearten the best of people but he tried again and managed to take his love of computer programming and turn it into the insanely successful Microsoft! I wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t failed in his earlier business.
Steve Jobs
Pretty much everyone alive knows about Apple products and the majority of us will own them whether it’s a Laptop / iPhone / iPad! You think Steve Jobs you think Apple success, but that wasn’t always the case! When Jobs was just 30 years old he was unceremoniously removed from the company after the Lisa Development failure (not heard of it? Me neither!). Jobs adopted the motto ‘Failure is Feedback’ and used that to undergo one of the most impressive comebacks in career history!
Brian Acton
Brian Acton (the ex Vice President of Engineering for Yahoo) found himself applying for jobs in 2009, and despite having over 10 years experience was turned down by two Social media giants: Facebook and Twitter. Instead of wallowing in his rejection Acton went onto create his own start-up company – Whatsapp. The age old ‘everything happens for a reason’ rings true when you consider Acton sold Whatsapp to Facebook last year for a whopping $19 Billion!
These are just a couple of examples but if you start to Google it you’ll see that the majority of success stories started with some form of disappointment in their career. So if you don’t hear back from an application or you have an interview but don’t manage to get the job offer, it is NOT the end of the world. Take a note out of Steve Jobs’ book and use it as an opportunity to get feedback on what went wrong and find a solution to change it next time!
Look on the bright side of Rejection, Stay positive and keep applying!
Sophie Heaton (Digital Campaign Manager)
