How to Handle Rejection
Rejection is part of life, and learning how to deal with it early on will only be to your benefit, both in your career and life in general. But I hope anyone reading this finds comfort in the fact that you are not alone in this feeling. Being "the new one" is hard. It sucks messing up, or feeling dumb. But newsflash, we all start somewhere. There was a time when Serena Williams sucked at tennis. There was a time when Gigi Hadid sucked at modeling. There was a time when Jennifer Lopez...j/k, J. Lo doesn't suck at anything, she is perfect.
But really, what makes these “no’s” so rough is that our brains are wired to pay more attention to the negative than the positive. You literally have to consciously wage war against your brain to change how you view and handle rejection.
Handle it with grace and say thanks for the opportunity. It’s rare for companies to take the time to let you know you aren’t receiving an internship offer, and you may want to work with them in the future. Use the opportunity to request feedback, but don’t be disheartened if they don’t respond, as it’s not typically provided.
If you were ghosted, don’t relentlessly follow up. Two times is enough. Don’t get hung up on what they may have said in your interview. If they have stopped reaching out, take the L, and move on.
Don’t personalize or overanalyze the rejection. Don’t allow negative self-talk to lead you astray and create a false narrative. “I’m never going to get an internship because I don’t go to the right school” or “I’m not smart enough.” Rejection can be fair, it’s not the world conspiring against you! Someone simply may have been more qualified than you, were able to quickly bond over common interests during the interview, or perhaps their current intern decided to stay on for longer. We rarely stop to consider the elements that are completely out of our control.
Take this as an opportunity to review your resume and cover letter, especially if you have applied to multiple opportunities and are not seeing any traction. I encounter this often - candidates feel defeated because they apply to 20, 30 opportunities, and don’t hear back from a single company. Yet, they continue applying, without stopping to evaluate what is going on. Are your application materials truly tailored to the jobs you’re applying to? Is your grammar and spelling on point?
Consider your application strategy. Are you qualified for the opportunities you’re applying to? Are you applying to enough internships? Were the job posts recently posted, or are they a month or two old? There’s a chance that you’re not being rejected, because in actuality, no one even opened your email, let alone read your resume.
Keep it moving. Acknowledge that you’re disappointed, vent to some trusted friends or family members, but don’t spiral out of control and wallow for days on end - it’s just an internship. Use your learnings as motivation to continue your search, and continue applying to the countless other opportunities out there. Persistence pays off, and the more you experience the application and interviewing process, the better you’ll become at it.
