Being told NO sucks. It really does. It also can be one of the greatest things when it comes to the growth of your career. Granted I am days away from graduating college and searching for some Bachelor style description that means unemployed for a month or two. Back up, did I just admit to not having a job for a month? Yes. Am I ok with it? Also yes. Why? Because I’ve been doing everything possible to get a job and in the end I will be fine. Also, I’ve been told to enjoy the period between graduation and ‘adulting’ where you have no set plans and can explore life. But more on that in another post.
So back to this whole idea of being told no. Well, fun fact I had two AMAZING interviews in April that ultimately I didn’t get the offered job for. Did it sting a bit? Hell yes. Was I over it and searching for more opportunities a day later? Also yes. But here comes the big piece of advice. I took the ‘no’ I was given and searched for answers. I got on the phone with one company and exchanged emails with the other to get a bit more insight into where I fell short. I took the advice to heart so that when I go on more interviews I have a better chance. I figured out that personally, I need to zone in on where I want to start and go from there.
If you read my story back when I had a music blog, it in short, was that I was told no about 50 times before I finally had a chance to work for a local paper and interview a band. What happened when I started to interview more bands and start my own blog? I got told no on occasion when I would try and get an interview. Did it stop me? Nope!
Being told no leaves two paths. You can a) accept defeat and go do something else or b) you can figure out what it takes to get a YES and go do it. Granted, a yes isn’t always in the cards and you need to be self aware enough to know when to move onto the next thing, but often it can be as simple as a change in approach or a bit more knowledge.
So there you go. A bit of Wednesday Wisdom as they say. If you get a no go ask why and then adapt.
