If you're looking for a job or running a small business, you have a lot of refusals to deal with. How can you stay positive in these cases?
No matter how much you want to be hired or win new customers, there are always people who make life difficult for you. You will spend your time and patience with people who don't appreciate you and don't give you a chance. Take the time to think about this aspect and choose your application or your clients more carefully in the future. After a while, you will spot hiring managers or clients that are difficult to deal with and you don’t have to accept any rudeness or mistreat.
Below are my 5 tips on how to deal with refusals:
1. Start as a pessimist and let yourself be surprised as an optimist. Start your search as a job seeker or manager of a small business, knowing that you will encounter tons of rejections every day. Don't take it personally, because companies aren't that easily “upset”. Be surprised if a recruiter allows you to do an interview or a new client shows interest in your portfolio. So, don't wait for magic, just believe in it.
2. Think about the worst things compared to a certain refusal. Do you think that a car accident or illness is synonymous with a rejection you got a few days ago? Compared to such situations, refusals are just a thin thing.
3. Learn to say NO: Whether you say NO to a job or a new client, trust your instincts and do not accept unpleasant behaviours. If you suspect that the hiring manager is not really interested in your application and only wants to hire some "cheap" employees, it is your decision whether you want to work in the same company as that person. As an entrepreneur, you can also choose your clients, because not every customer does things right – some are very difficult to deal with, others with excessive requirements and others delay payment.
4. Don’t spend time understanding a refusal: Salespersons are proficient in this area and it is good to take their advice sometimes. If you spend time understanding the reasons for rejection, it is a clear waste of time. Maybe the hiring manager or client just had a bad day at work and is not paying you the interest you deserve. Or maybe you don't fit in with their business and you don't know that. You can only guess, but that won't improve your activity.
5. Next, next and…next: Stay positive about the entire process. If you are not hired today, the next company or the second, even the fifth, could give you the dream job. n small businesses, especially in the early years, you will get used to hunting for customers and it should be part of your daily routine to get rejections. What would have happened if everyone had gotten the job or business at first sight? This scenario is far from realistic.
I hope my advice will encourage you to remain positive when you are dealing with refusals.