33. "Handling Interview Rejection"
- Bianca Blanch
- Oct 16, 2020
- 6 min read
The only thing worse than waiting for the rejection after an interview you know you didn't kill, is the rejection itself. Here is my advice for getting through this time and picking yourself back up to try again.
My Experience of Interview Rejection
I have been quite lucky in my career, as I have pretty much always received a job offer after each interview. This is because I have been very qualified for every research job I have applied for, and haven't tried to change my career path, until now.
I still love research but am looking for opportunities to expand my skillset so I am looking for jobs that I am not 100% qualified for, mainly in project management. Researchers deliver projects all the time, I am highly organised, I like planning studies and get a lot of satisfaction of seeing my plan become a reality.
I got an interview and was excited for a new phase of my career with new challenges, and developing new skills.
I had about a week to prepare for the interview. Although I have delivered many projects, I had no idea how project manager's spoke about their projects, or common interview questions so I watched a few You Tube videos to find out this information. After rewatching one specific video a few times, I got it. I knew how to talk about project management, and saw how my research skills would transfer to a project management role. I felt confident I could sell my background in health research to talk myself into a health project management role.
I arrived at the interview nervous, like I always am. I had 15 minutes before the interview to review the very standard five questions in addition to a scenario-based question about how I would evaluate an example program they provided. I wrote a lot of notes for the evaluation question, and didn't really spend much time thinking about the others.
At the end of the 15 minutes I felt ready.
The interview began with some small talk, and the first question was the evaluation question. I went through how I would evaluate the program, additional questions and information I would need to evaluate the program, why I applied for the job and the skills I had that would allow me to be successful in the role. But my nerves didn't go away like they normally do.
In the third question, which asked details about a complex project I had delivered, I got flustered. My example was quite complex and had a lot of aspects to explain to people who were not there. I felt myself becoming more nervous. The fear and anxiety just needed this small opening to flourish and take over my brain and my body.
When I finished this question, they immediately asked me the next question. All of a sudden I felt exhausted and couldn't think straight. So I took about 5 seconds to just breathe and compose myself. To clear my brain and breathe away the anxiety.
It worked. My brain fog cleared, and I got through the rest of the interview. But I think it may have been the worst interview I had ever done.
Then came the waiting........
Over the next few days I found myself replaying the questions in my head, thinking of what I should have said, and viewing my actual answer with more and more disdain with each repetition.
It helped to talk to a few people to get their reactions. I sent the questions to a friend who is a project manager and they said the questions were quite difficult. I told my partner and family how I had responded to some of the questions and they were reassuring.
About a week after the interview I was able to take away the lessons and learn from why I got overwhelmed and anxious. It is all good practice for the next interview....
The Lessons To Prepare For a Job Interview (And Potentially Avoid Rejection)
What are the key elements of the job?
Read over the job description and identify the key roles and responsibilities. Write a sample answer to this question outlining how you possess all of these skills and include brief examples where relevant. In your response you need to convince them that yes you are indeed the best applicant for the job for all these reasons. The best answer will answer their question, but also add in more information that are relevant to the job to show your experience, e.g. tertiary/academic qualifications.
For example, I applied for a job where one of the key roles/responsibilities was familiarity with health data. So when asked what I knew about health data, I may respond with 'I am very experienced with health data. During my PhD, I consistently requested, analysed and interpreted health data for publications and presentations to both a clinical and lay audience'. In this answer, I let them know how I developed this skill through my highest tertiary qualification (PhD), I also let them know I am comfortable not only interpreting health data but requesting and analysing these data and know relevant associated processes, finally I have presented these data to a range of audiences. If relevant I may continue, with 'I am also considered an expert by the field as I am frequently asked to peer-review journal articles and have reviewed articles for 15 journals'. This demonstrates your ability to critique research and studies using health data.
This answer may seem like overkill, and it does take practice to list your traits in a comfortable manner so it doesn't seem over the top. Practice the delivery with a colleague and ask them to give you feedback. Once you are comfortable giving this answer you will be more confident in the interview too.
Watch relevant You Tube videos
If there are aspects of the job that you are unsure about, search for answers on Google or look up a You Tube video. There are literally millions of videos on You Tube and it is a good resource so you know how to speak about specific parts of the job.
For example, when I applied for the project management job, I know I had project management skills from being a researcher but because I didn't have any formal training I didn't really know how to talk about project management. I found a couple of really useful videos about what the stages of project management are, and what interview questions project managers are typically asked in an interview. These videos made me feel more confident speaking about project management, especially rewatching them until I could tell the presenter what was next in the project management life cycle.
Re-read any information you have sent through regarding the job e.g. resume, answers to questions, cover letter
Some job applications ask scenario-based questions as part of the pre-interview process. If so, go over your answers, know what projects you have spoken about. If you have more examples, talk about different examples in the job interview as it will demonstrate the breadth of your experience. If you don't have additional examples, go into more detail about the project so they feel new. It's like when you call a presentation a different title from the published manuscript, to focus on a different aspect of the project.
The interviewer will have read your application before the interview, and you don't want them to get bored with your answers by simply regurgitating what you have already written.
Nail the pre-interview time
Jot down the key points for will cover for each question, regardless of how standard or easy you think they are. In the interview you may get flustered (like I did), so these notes may help you remember some points that you have since forgotten in your anxiety-induced brain fog.
If you need to wallow, wallow
I am a wallower. I give myself 24 hours to wallow when I feel down about something big. Let yourself feel your feelings, but don't let them overwhelm you. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself, go the the gym, eat ice cream, take a bath, spend time with friends/family, go see some puppies. Whatever you need to feel like you again. Then get back on that search page and find the next job you are interested in. You need to be persistent and don't let the rejections change your decision to change your job,
What have been your tricks to handling rejection? Let me know your experience by leaving a comment below or emailing me at AuthenticResearchExperiences@gmail.com
BB
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash
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