The Wisdom of Following Up After Rejection
Many times, we feel that the rejection letter is the ultimate word from the employer who offered the dream job. "Ugh!" is usually the thought, accompanied by such musings as, "What in the world didn't I do right?" or "Well, I guess that's definitely the end of that one."
What self-respecting career coach would do their homework and stay abreast of what human resource and corporate recruiters are talking about when they're interviewing and trying to decide to whom they should extend an offer? It's part of the territory. It's part of the calling. That's why my ear is bruised and gnarled the way it is.
And that's why these words need to reach this audience today!
There's a conversation going on at one of the human resource websites. The managers are talking about what to do when they have the most delightful problem of two equally (let me repeat that, equally) qualified candidates and only one open position.
Some of the respondents talk about doing an assessment to determine which of the two is the better cultural fit. Then there are other comments about who has the better mind in regard to strategy or creativity. Yet another talks about doing another background check to see if one of the candidates has lied about their background. Others recommend peer and panel interviews.
But the recommendation that came up most frequently was to rejoice and save the name of whichever wound up being No. 2. The reasoning was that even though there was only one open position at this time, it is entirely possible that a new position can be opened up so that the second candidate can be brought in at some future date. One person said this took about a year but it was done.
So you were rejected for your dream job. Does that mean you give up or does that mean you create an opportunity to forge a new relationship? Not only should it mean you forge a new relationship, it should also mean that you do sensible things to maintain that relationship in a very healthy state.
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