Assignment 26 – Celebrating Failure
1.
Failure: The most recent time I failed repeatedly this semester was when I was interviewing for full-time positions for after
graduation. I went to Career Showcase, something that I was very nervous to do,
and spoke with around 10 companies that I was interested in working for after
graduation. In the following weeks I heard back from around 8 of the 10 companies,
asking for a first-round interview. I had first-round interviews on campus,
over the phone, or through Skype. Some of the companies I never heard back from
after that, which felt like the biggest failure. Some of the companies had me
attend second round interviews, flying me out to their headquarters. But over
the next month, I felt like I kept eventually hearing ‘no’s’ from companies
that I thought I really connected with. It felt like a huge failure to not have
found a job yet, especially when many people around me were already accepting full-time
positions.
2.
What I learned: Through this experience, I learned
a few things. Firstly, I decided I needed to change something about how I was
handling the situation, because my current perspective was not working. I
decided to stop feeling defeated after every ‘no,’ and to instead think of it
as being one step closer to being where I belonged. I tried to receive feedback
every time I was denied a position, so I could learn how to do better in the
next interview. The most important thing I learned was to go into each
interview thinking ‘I am going to get this job’ and just having a really positive
attitude. I tried to remind myself of all of the reasons that company would want me,
instead of just why I wanted to be hired by them.
3.
Reflection: Dealing with failure is something
that I still am working on, in all situations. Some outcomes are harder to
accept than others. But I try to take each one as a learning experience so I
can be better in the next situation I am put in. Emotionally, I try to remember
it is not the end of the world and that this happening could potentially open
up doors to other opportunities I don’t know about yet. Behaviorally, if it is
something that is really bothering me I like to sit down and think about how I
could have avoided this failure. This allows me to consider the changes I need
to make to accomplish what I want to next time. This class has changed my
perspective on failure through all of our weekly assignments. For a lot of
them, we are required to go talk to new people and ask them questions to help
our business. This is something that I was not comfortable doing before this
class, and I was worried that I would fail or hear ‘no’ repeatedly. And while
not every conversation went as great as I may have wanted it too, they all
provided me with some sort of knowledge to move me forward. These experiences have
encouraged me to take risks instead of staying comfortable.
Hi Alyssa, I really resonated with your story of your perceived failure. As a fellow senior, the job hunt and process of hiring is so frightening and while getting turned down by employers is likely unavoidable, it doesn't mean the rejection is by any means easy. I think it's great that this 'failure' helped you switch your perspective. I totally agree that doing so will help you approach your interviews differently and perhaps provide a different outcome. Good post!
ReplyDeleteHey Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI also feel like anytime I get a rejection or do not hear back from interviews it is a failure. I am also in the job hunting process right now and I can totally understand where you are coming from. I definitely think that the way you went about dealing with your failure was a right one. I never considered getting feedback when I got denied a position. I usually would be angry at the time and know I would not be able to listen to criticism at the time.
Hey Alyssa! Your failure I think speaks to many of us who are going to soon graduate! It always looms over my shoulder whenever I get a rejection letter and it feels like when I got rejection letters from some out of state schools. I liked your method of dealing with failure since it is productive and would further benefit you to improve. I never thought of getting feedback to improve! I also like how you were able to make a positive outlook from the rejections as a way of showing that one day you will go where you belong!
ReplyDeleteHey Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI totally understand the stress of going to interviews and then not getting answers back or getting rejections. It really does feel bad to receive those rejections, but that's why everyone says that you should apply to many of them so that even if a few you really had you eye on reject you, you still might get accepted to some you still like and not have to stress about only having two or three, and finding out way too late that you get rejected by all of them.