6 Secrets To Responding Wisely to Rejection Emails

Get tips for responding wisely to rejection emails so you face forward to success. Read on.

Rejection is a part of life, but it doesn’t have to lead to total failure and depression. At the end of the day, rejection isn’t personal. It’s just another data point in your career trajectory as you search for the best job. 

In fact, there are ways to use rejection as an opportunity for growth and improvement. Yes, even if you haven’t been hired yet!

According to a report by Simplilearn, only 20% of the total applicants who appear in a recruitment process reach the interview round. Below I list some tips on how to respond to a rejection email during a recruitment process:

I’m writing this article because I’m a bestselling personal development author – with about 2 million books and courses sold globally.

I offer a range of online marketing tools in my course: How To Make Profitable Courses – Without The Overwhelm.

Plus I offer Peak Performance Coaching for individuals and corporate teams.

I love helping people to live their most successful and fulfilling lives, so I decided to put together this article with insights and tips for moving forward after a rejection email.

6 Steps for Responding Wisely to Rejection Emails

1. Get closure

Once you’ve gotten the rejection, ask for feedback. You might have caught a piece of information from the email that helps you understand why they didn’t hire you. Or you could learn what type of person they are looking for. 

Ask if there was anything else about the position that would make it more suitable for your skillset.

For example, find out if they were looking for someone who could do contract work as well as full-time employment.

Make sure that whatever information is provided is accurate and helpful. Don’t assume it will all turn out okay because someone thought it would be a nice idea at one point in time!

2. Don’t take it personally

If you find yourself taking rejection personally, here’s what to do:

• Realize that it’s a part of the job search process. Rejection is part of the job search process. It’s likely something you’ll experience many times over before finding your dream job. You can’t control whether or not people will respond positively or negatively to your email. Or even read it. But you can control how you respond when they do respond negatively. If someone sends back an email saying “sorry but no thanks,” don’t take it personally. It could be any number of reasons why someone turned down your offer. Perhaps they’ve already found another position. Or there wasn’t enough funding available for them.
• Understand that this isn’t personal! Rejections are made by businesses looking out for their best interests above all else. Suppose something doesn’t work out between the two companies. In that case, both parties should work towards making things right again before moving forward with further negotiations. Or before any future collaboration together is possible. Otherwise, there may be legal consequences, leading to costly lawsuits. This would cost both sides money instead of saving time/effort in resolving issues quickly, so everyone wins!

3. Ask for more information.

• Ask for more information.
• What did they like about your application?
• Can you be considered for another opportunity at this company?
• Would you like to hear more feedback on your application, or is this good enough? (If they are open to it, ask them what type of feedback they’d like.) You could also give positive feedback in case they have yet to see it!

4. Ask for feedback/give positive feedback

If you’re asked to resend the email, ask your contact what they would change about it. This can be helpful in terms of improving their own work. And it will make them feel more confident about sending out similar emails in the future. But it also allows you to learn from rejection. In this way, next time around, when someone says no, they’ll know exactly how not to do it!

• Ask specific examples of things that were done well on behalf of the writer/client. And then give specific examples of things that could be improved next time around (e-mailing instead of texting, shorter paragraphs, etc.)

5. Ask to be considered for another opportunity at this company

The best way to respond to a rejection email is by asking for the job of your dreams. For example, if you’re interested in a different position at this company, ask them if they have any other openings that would be right up your alley and worth applying for. You could also ask them if any referral opportunities are available (e.g., someone who has worked closely with the hiring manager).

6. Use the rejection to your advantage.

Rejection is part of the job search process. It’s not personal, and it doesn’t mean that you’re not good enough or smart enough—it just means someone else didn’t see fit to hire you.

But you can use rejection as an opportunity to learn:

• Use rejection letters as feedback on your resume and cover letter so that the next time you apply for a position, they’ll give more weight to what they liked about it when they first read through them (or even before).
• Read each email with an open mind and try not to let any negative comments affect how much confidence in yourself or others around you has been built up over time from previous rejections/rejections followed by positive responses from employers. Instead take each one at face value without letting emotions get involved at all!

Conclusion on Wise Responses to Email Rejections

Rejection is inevitable. It’s part of the business world, and you should be prepared for it. If you are getting frustrated or upset over a rejection email, take a moment to reflect on why that happened and how it made you feel before answering. Then, remember what we said above: there are always opportunities out there! You need to look for them!

Enjoy a Career Producing Online Courses

I offer a range of online marketing tools in my course: How To Make Profitable Courses – Without The Overwhelm.