Regain a job after being rejected

Published on Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007

In your endless job search, you finally stumble on the perfect job. You dash off a resume immediately and maybe even land an interview. Sadly, no job offer follows
You get either a standard rejection letter, a cautiously worded elimination call or even worse, are left hanging never to hear from the organisation again.
Well, nobody likes rejection, especially when it comes to being passed over for a dream job. This loaded feeling leads to unprecedented frustration, anger and bitterness. But do not dejectedly cross off the job just yet. The initial rebuff does not necessarily draw a permanent curtain on the job. Why not fight tooth and nail for the ‘much wanted’ job rather than letting the opportunity sink without a trace?
As Shelia Gray, a leading director of global talent acquisition advises, “If there’s an organisation you really want to work for, don’t let your first rejection be your defining moment. Continue to pursue the organisation.”

A good dose of logic
Always keep in mind that a job worth having will attract umpteen candidates, that too mostly well-qualified ones. You are just one among the crowd that was eliminated. This does not necessarily reflect on your abilities or achievements in any way. Someone may just be better qualified, more suitable or having something else going for him.
If you overcome the disappointment and respond professionally in the face of the rejection, you may actually get the company to retract the rejection and offer you a job! After all, you never know - the chosen candidate may fall through, not turn up or even decline the job. Even so, a positive reaction will keep you on the recruiters’ radar for when the position falls vacant again or a different one becomes available.

Keep a cool head
A rejection will hurt terribly, but never make the mistake of expressing your anger or resentment at the hiring managers. Candidates who fling abuses, accusations or argue vociferously squander their possible chance of being reconsidered for the job. To stand out from the crowd, it’s important to accept the rejection gracefully.

Go ahead and ‘thank’
Ironically, the first thing to do after being denied the job is to say ‘thank you’. Writing, emailing or calling to extend this simple courtesy will effectively distinguish you from other rejected contenders. Express your sincere gratitude for having been considered for the position even while reinforcing your strong desire to work for the company.
Carefully word a polite and professional appreciation to reiterate your continuing interest in the opportunity and the value you can bring to the job. This thoughtful communiqué will spotlight your initiative, enthusiasm, grit and sincerity.
A top HR director recalls inviting a rejected candidate for another interview and subsequently hiring him, “He acknowledged that it would have been a great company to work for, but that he understood he was not the right person for the particular opportunity. Most recruiters remember great candidates, and this letter kept him top of mind!”

Keep in touch
Continue to send friendly reminders about your job status and interest level in the organisation. Demonstrate an easy familiarity with the company and encourage them to keep you in mind for future positions. In the follow-up, tailor your approach to the job and company; at times, you can even go as far as subtly requesting reconsideration.
For instance, a recently rejected soul urged the organisation to label him a backup candidate and relating what he did says, “I said that I was really disappointed because the company was my No. 1 choice and asked them to reconsider me if somebody backs out or if another position opens up. A week later, the company retracted its rejection and offered me the job, which I accepted!” But, the trick is to soft sell yourself without overdoing it and infuriating them unnecessarily.

Pick their brains
A charming way out is to call the hiring manager and ask him/her for feedback. Pose questions like where you went wrong, why you were not a good fit for the position and what you lack. Soliciting suggestions and advice for subsequent interviews will demonstrate your sincere interest in personal development and career progression.
All said and done, tackling a rejection with maturity, objectivity and persistence will keep your name in front of the recruiters and can turn the defeat into ultimate victory!
Last but not the least; remember that a rejection is not the end of the world. Learn to take the disappointment in your stride and you will benefit in the future.

PAYAL CHANANIA

Lack of attrition indicates stagnant skill levels

It’s the biggest paradox of the corporate world! Even while companies pull out all the stops in reducing attrition to the bare minimum, some management gurus are actually propagating increasing ‘wanted turnover’!
Whoa! In the unbridled war for talent when high turnover is considered absolutely detrimental, whoever heard of actually trying to boost turnover levels?
Well, the truth is that blindly attempting to avoid attrition can be quite damaging.
Jamie Hale, a senior consultant and leader of workforce management practice says: “Optimal turnover is not the lowest turnover you can achieve. Optimal turnover produces the highest long-term levels of productivity and business improvement.” Recent studies corroborate that functional turnover is good as it stimulates a competitive advantage. Therefore, it is essential to actively manage turnover to create a performance culture. That is, even while concentrating on reducing the attrition numbers, organisations can and should try to manoeuvre turnover for positive business and financial results.

Some turnover is actually good
Nil attrition levels stand testimony to the jolting reality that an organisation is laden with old skills, stale managers and a somnambulist workforce. Valuable retention efforts are actually being spent on preserving poor performers who do not meet efficiency expectations, but also essentially reduce productivity, drive away customers and breed low morale.
Heaving under the weight of such undesirable elements, how can the organisation build a high-performing workforce needed to face global competition?
Its turnover to the rescue as this helps the management drive out misfits and weak performers. Showing unacceptable employees the door is essential for replacing old skill sets and upgrading talent. This will stimulate the organisation to push and prepare for an inflow of fresh ideas, new blood, vantage perspectives and external knowledge.
This also helps in reshaping the workforce for a better distribution of age groups and filtering out top pay packages and costly benefits. Moving out high-end and overpaid salary earners tenders the opportunity to hire new employees at relatively lower salary levels.
Therefore, instead of exclusively preventing departures and retaining all employees, the focus should shift to keeping a selective group of talented employees only. As acclaimed writer, Fay Hansen expounds in The Turnover Myth, “The pressing issue at many companies is not whether voluntary turnover is too high, but whether it is too low to provide opportunities for introducing new talent and resetting salaries!”
So much so that, the current trend is not only to retain highly skilled contributors but at the same time, have an attrition of at least 8-10 percent of poor performers.

Driving turnover
There is nothing to beat bottom performers resigning voluntarily. Unfortunately, this rarely happens. Therefore:
• Terminations are necessary – The onus is on workforce management executives to prise slackers from their comfort zones or hiding places and train/coach/mentor them to step up to meet new needs. If they still fail to correct the problem or improve performance, managers should take steps to terminate poor-performing and disruptive employees. This calls for decisive action after overcoming the overriding managerial reluctance to fire anyone per se.
In the words of a top global consultant, ‘Healthy turnover benefits a firm. It means that the firm is actively evaluating employees and making decisions. Low turnover means that the firm is working around existing people instead of constantly pulling in new people with new ideas to build the organisation. At successful firms, turnover becomes a business advantage!’
• Explore other avenues – If outright dismissal does not seem prudent, HR executives can subtly force the employees’ departure by instigating (older) employees to retire or by offering buyouts.
Some consultants recommend counselling out redundant or low potential workers. Else, they can utilise retrenchment options to cut back on the unsuitable workforce.
The bottom line is to manage and encourage good turnover in the interests of the company.
With these measures, companies can master turnover and thus achieve a maximum return on their human capital investment.

Watch out
Where companies go wrong is that they attempt to drive out older, long-term employees in an attempt to infuse new (read young) talent and hack salaries. What they fail to realise is that not only does this invite age discrimination liabilities but also begets a huge loss of commitment, skills and experience. Indiscriminate firings stack up separation costs, performance costs, vacancy costs and last, but not the least, replacement costs.
Excessive recruitment and training costs can damage a company as much as retention of weak employees. Not to mention the risk of being saddled with wrongful termination lawsuits.
Therefore, the key to avoiding organisational stagnation is to institute a sound selection process that ensnares top performers alone.
If some unsatisfactory elements slip in, management should make efforts to revitalise them with proper training.
This will slowly transform the organisation into a structure with no bad employees and zero turnover too!

PAYAL CHANANIA

When it's time to move on

WHAT IS your typical day like? Do you start your morning with a spring in your step and a song in your head? Or do you drag your feet to the kitchen and curse your pet cat for coming in your way? At work do you hum a little tune while your fingers feverishly pull away at the keyboard? Or do you find yourself making little origami figures with the hard copy of your project proposal?
The objective here as always is to pick and prod. To reflect, contemplate and analyse. To understand. Are you happy with your job or is it time to moved on? If it is then you have to do something about it. Move on. Switch. Find a new job. You may have liked it when you first started, but now the time is ripe for a change. A job is more than just money. It should ideally provide satisfaction, support, hope and fulfillment. Take it away and it is no surprise that people feel like they are sinking.
Agreed, changing jobs is no laughing matter. In fact there are few things scarier than being in the job market again. However, it is not as hard as you think. The job market today is a basketful of opportunities. Statistics show that young people entering the workforce today are likely to change jobs 7-10 times in their careers!
But beware, before you proceed any further, be sure that you really want a change. You cannot afford to dump your job at the smallest sign of trouble. If you leave for the wrong reasons, you will just find yourself wishing to have the old job back. So how do you understand when the time is right? Try this:
Read the signs
There is nothing like a perfect job. Every job will come with its fair share of bad days. A minor annoyance can be set right or even ignored. But closing your eyes to a profound problem is asking for trouble. Here's a checklist of warning signs:
The job has lost its initial thrill and challenge, now you are bored with the work and do your best to avoid it. That vital `something' is sorely missing.
Life has become routine and you are weary of performing the same old tasks day in and day out. The work content offers nothing new to do and leaves you going around in circles.
The job schedule keeps you too busy with barely anytime left for family and friends. Or, you desire a job closer to home because of the rising petrol costs!
The company culture is not your cup of tea because of the prevailing dog-eat-dog atmosphere, absence of team spirit or unending office politics.
There is no potential for growth as you have exhausted all the advancement possibilities be it in terms of promotion, rewards, learning new skills or getting a raise. You have nowhere to go in the job now.
The work does not even use your talent to the maximum and job satisfaction level touches rock bottom. All in all, your career is stagnating and you are hungry for more.
As Jim Hayhurst, author and career coach says, `If you have to contort who you are to do the job then it's time to leave because not only are you being unfair to yourself, you will never be delivering as much as you could.' Whatever be the reason, you have to indulge in some soul-searching and become aware of your values, interests and skills. Try to view the job from a new perspective. It just might be what you always wanted and you may have failed to appreciate its true potential. Is it the job that needs changing or is it your attitude? Consider all your options and make sure that it is not merely a case of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. If, after weighing all your possibilities, you still feel that enough is enough, and talking over your problems with your manager cannot resolve them, go for it.

PAYAL AGARWAL