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[femmelf]

Like a lot of people, I'm looking for work and getting shot down by seemingly unfeeling HR. I've been told I'm overqualified, underqualified, ignored, whatever.

It's just a lot of rejection to take. It's times like these I'm glad I was never mean to any boy who ever asked me out or expressed interest in me, and that I went out of my way to be nice. I imagine it might be the same or a similar feeling to being turned down for a job you really want. Can't say that I'm entirely sure it's a spot on analogy but yeah. Perhaps I should have thicker skin, but at the moment it seems I don't.

I'm having a rather hard time dealing with rejection at the moment and would like a bit of advice concerning this topic if you'd be so kind? Have any of you got any good advice / experience dealing with something like this?

[xpi0t0s]

HR aren't really unfeeling; they just deal with this a lot and get a bit blazé about it.  What country are you in and what kind of work are you looking for?
Do you send out basically the same application to every job, or do you take some time to think about each post and tailor your CV and covering letter to each one?  The latter is more work but can be more productive.  Although it depends in part on your level of experience.

Are you applying directly to companies or going via recruitment specialists?  For some industries (like IT in the UK, where I'm based) it can work a lot better; the recruiter takes a cut of course, but they also do a lot of the work for both the company they work on behalf of and the applicants.

It's always frustrating when someone says you're overqualified.  The problem is that they don't want to take you on then see you leave in 3 months because you're bored.  Underqualified is fair enough, but if you can demonstrate an ability and willingness to learn then that should get you past that part.  If they can feed back what you're underqualified in then maybe you could use some of your free time to get qualified, or at least to do some reading and/or experimentation on the subject.

[acetech09]

I try to let applicants know that when I turn them down, it's doing them a favor as well. Employment, by nature, is a symbiotic contract. If I know that you aren't suited well for the position, you'll have a bad time with our company. And when you have a bad time, so do we.

And when I say 'not suited well', there's a huge spectrum of things to consider. Last week, we turned down an incredibly experienced, ex-google applicant who was really excited about our company and focus. Why? She said "When it comes to my office demeanor and how I treat my leadership, I'm very professional. I prefer to be thought of as someone's boss, not someone's friend, you know?"

That demeanor, while good certain positions and certain company cultures, didn't fit in at all with a company that has a fridge stocked of beer and periodic happy hours where the whole company, CEO included, chills and shoots BS in the office.


But as an aside, a job search shouldn't have lots of rejection.

If you're a valuable candidate to a company, you're generally a vaulable candidate for every company. If you get rejected more than a few times, I would really take a look at your resumé, application quality, and demeanor, and make sure you have everything set.

[LordBucket]

advice

Try asking a guy out on a date. Revel in ego-fueled joy as his eyes light up in thrill and delight. Take pleasure in feeling wanted.

See it as evidence that the rejection you're experiencing is due to market forces, and not who you are.

Also you'll make somebody's day, so everybody wins.