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Getting your hopes up about landing a job only to find out that you’ve been rejected can be deflating and even devastating at times. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that you’ll land every single job you apply for, and rejection is inevitable at some point. But with the right approach, you can turn negatives into positives and use them as fuel for your future job searches. Here are some ways to learn from an interview experience where you weren’t extended an offer.

Ask for Feedback

If at all possible, try to get information from your interviewer concerning why you weren’t chosen for the job. While it may not always be easy to get an honest answer, it’s worth trying so you can identify what went wrong. In some cases, it may be something small such as another candidate had a bit more direct experience, which shouldn’t be a blow to your self-esteem.

Other times, there may be a few areas that you need to address in order to be more desirable to employers. Just be sure to be polite and professional when asking – and look at it as a means of acquired unbiased feedback that you can utilize for your future endeavors.

Confront Your Weaknesses

Acknowledging areas where you’re not so good at something can be uncomfortable and unpleasant. But nonetheless, confronting your weaknesses is a vehicle for personal growth and worth doing when you consider the positive long-term benefits. Maybe your communication skills could use some work or you need to become more of a team player.

Whatever it may be, facing your weaknesses should help you improve and work past them. After all, it’s impossible to fix a problem without first identifying it.

Look for Areas of Improvement

Once you’ve identified where you’re lacking, it’s wise to put forth some serious effort to correct the problem. In the case of communication skills, you might want to practice actively listening, making eye contact, using hand gestures, etc. Or if there’s some particular skill that you don’t possess, it may be worth pursuing additional education if it’s important for landing high-paying jobs in your industry.

Just keep in mind that everyone could improve in some department, and you shouldn’t take it personally if you need to put some extra attention in certain areas. Instead, think of it as a way to enhance your skill set.

While not getting the job you were hoping for isn’t ideal, there are several ways you can use rejection in a positive way. By learning from your interview experience and taking the appropriate steps, you’ll be better poised to thrive in other interviews and ultimately find a great position later on down the road.

For more job search tips and career advice, please check out our blog.

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