How Many Times I Got Rejected from a Job

I have been rejected from job applications pretty much all my adult life. If you haven’t, chances are you will be at some point unless you never move from the position you’re in. Rejection does not have to be formal where someone calls you up and says we decided to go with another candidate. It could be that you never hear back after applying online. That happens. It will continue to happen as well. 

My first rejections happened to me while I was trying to find an internship between my 3rd and the 4th year of university. My previous jobs were so easy to find. My mom set me up with a job at a book store in Lebanon for $1.20 an hour. My brother later set me up as a AutoCAD drafter at his structural engineering firm for $2 an hour, again in Lebanon. Why would it be hard to get a job in Ottawa?

Well, the answer is because I didn’t have connections, and I sucked at interviews. 

University usually helps its students get interviews for Co-op terms. So at least I was hearing back from potential employers when I apply, but just thinking about the first couple of interviews so I can write this post makes me feel sick in my stomach.

For the first 2 interviews, I didn’t get past the phone screening. Here’s a recap.

Interview ONE:

This was with RIM, the makers of the Blackberry phone at a time it was the defacto option for companies and government. Initially, I was doing well. My interviewers put me at ease, so I was cracking jokes and we were having fun until I pushed my jokes too far. It wasn’t inappropriate. It was just stupid. 

They asked me what I look for in a phone when I’m shopping for a new one. My response was “Um, it makes calls!”. I said it with a smirk since my interviewers can see my face through a phone line. Yes, I’m being sarcastic. A small tear runs down my cheek whenever I think about it. The bad part is I knew why they were asking the question and the answer they were looking for. The interview did not last much longer after that. I never heard back from them. 

Job Application Rejection Counter: 1

Interview TWO:

Another phone interview, again scheduled with 2 folks on the other end. The phone rang, and for some reason, I jumped off my seat as if I was not expecting it. I guess I was nervous.

Instead of 2, there was only 1 person on the other end. I could barely understand what the gentleman was saying. I did my best and answered all his questions accurately for 15 minutes. Then the other gentleman came onto the call. I could barely understand him as well. He proceeded to ask the same exact questions the other interviewer who was still on the phone asked. I tried not to show it, but I got pissy. I started using terms that I now hate like:

• As I said
• I think I already answered this question, but I will do it again
• Isn’t that the same question as your colleague asked

Never heard from them again. I wasn’t particularly sad about that though. I count that as a mutual rejection. 

Job Application Rejection Counter: 2

The good news is that I learned a few lessons from these interviews.

1. Interviewers are not your friends. Answer the questions, then joke around if appropriate
2. You are interviewing the employers as well.
3. No matter what, don’t be pissy.

I was able to get past my next phone screening. I was scheduled to interview for a job with Alcatel-Lucent. I don’t remember what that job was, but I remember 2 other classmates were going to be interviewed as well. That interview did not go so well either.

Interview THREE 

I did ok with this interview, but it seems that there was a miscommunication. My co-op term was 16 months. They were looking to hire someone for 4 months, and if they do well, they can increase it to 8 months. After that, the student would have to find another job.

I wanted an internship to last 16 months, which in hindsight was not the best educational decision. I wanted security instead of exposure. I was afraid I would not find another job. Anyways,

Job Application Rejection Counter: 3

All of these within a few weeks from each other. Not fun, but I learned from them and did well in another 2 interviews and got 2 job offers, I chose 1, completed my internship and went back to university with a promise to come back to that company, formerly known as Nortel.

I graduated from university during horrible economic times. The real estate bubble had burst, Nortel went kaput, and I was jobless for 6 months after graduation. During that time, I applied to every job posting I can find. I even applied in Lebanon for jobs knowing I’d be away from my family, but I was desperate for 2 reasons.

1. I really needed a job 
2. I really did not want to do my masters which I applied for as a backup in case I cannot find a job.

Suffice to say I suffered one job application rejection after another. I didn’t even get past the online application phase to an interview. If I were counting those as Job Application Rejections, the counter would be at a few hundred.

Interview FOUR

Some good news. Every year, folks from my home town in Lebanon do a BBQ in one of our nice Canadian parks. I’ve never attended one of those previously, but back in 2009, I decided to join my family. I put on my best Nortel shirt, which my mother hated, jumped in the first car I’ve ever owned, a 1998 Volkswagen Passat in case I need to escape early, and headed over. Being the introvert that I am, I didn’t really talk to people outside my circle of friends, but a nice lady saw me wearing my Nortel shirt. Turns out she worked for Alcatel-Lucent. In case you didn’t know, the 3 major networking companies in Ottawa are maybe 10 Kilometers apart (4 miles), so everyone knew everyone. She started a conversation with me and told me that she was a team lead, and her boss is looking to hire. My resume was in her inbox on Sunday night. Monday morning her boss had scheduled an interview with me, Monday evening I was at that lady’s house to prepare for the interview.

Did not get rejected.  Woohoo!

Interview Five and Six

I worked on that team for a couple of years. At that point, I needed a new challenge, so I applied to 2 different jobs internally. Both needed a senior engineer. One rejected me since in their minds I was not a senior. The other manager however considered me a senior with a junior’s salary and gave me the job. I guess senior is subjective!

Job Application Rejection Counter: 4

Shortly after that career move, I was unsatisfied with the income that I was making, being that of a junior engineer while doing a senior engineer’s job. I worked with my manager to check all the boxes I need for a promotion and raise, and many more boxes that I didn’t need. However, due to the bureaucracy of a large enterprise, nothing happened. I decided it was time to look elsewhere. After a year of applying to all sorts of different jobs in my area, I finally got an interview. The job application rejection counter would explode at the number of applications that got sucked into a black hole, so let’s not count them

Interview Seven

I’ve already talked about this interview in the podcast, so if you’re interested in learning how that went, check out #65 Sales Engineers Interview Process

From that 1 interview, I got my first Sales Engineering job.

Interview EIGHT

My friend worked as a Sales Engineer at a behemoth of a company in Ottawa and informed me that his manager wants to chat with me. So I chatted. I then got rejected because their company has too many products and the manager did not think I would be able to get them all. For me, it was a chat since I just moved jobs, but….

Job Application Rejection Counter: 5

I remained with that company for 4 years. Then things got political and I did not like. It was time to go on a job hunt again. 

This time I did not apply to as many jobs. I could afford to be picky about it, so I only applied to positions that interested me. Some Sales Engineer jobs, and some Sales Engineer Manager jobs. Many applications, 1 interview. 

Interview NINE

The interview was for a Sales Engineering position who had to be an expert in C. I worked on C during university and in my internship, but I was not even close to being functional with it anymore. The last time I touched it was almost 10 years previous. But I had faith that I can get it with a bit of practice.

I went through the entire interview process. In the end, I was informed that I was one of 2 finalists. And although they wanted to work with me, the other finalist has many years of experience with C. Guess who they went with. 

Job Application Rejection Counter: 6

Interview TEN

I also got an interview with another good company in Ottawa with an amazing technology that I was interested in. I got that when I met the Account Manager that I was trying to get on the podcast. He referred me and again I got all the way to being one of 3 finalists. At the same time, I was being pursued by the company that I work with now. The difference is that this company, the one I work with now, new they wanted me and got an offer in front of me within a month. The other company I was interviewing with wasn’t even close to making a decision after 3 months and 9 interviews. I withdrew my candidacy.

Although I was not flat out rejected, I did feel that if they wanted me, they would have fought for me. I am going to increase the rejection counter below, but know that it was one rejection that I’m happy about.

Job Application Rejection Counter: 7

 As a summary, you should know that you will get rejected, and it’s ok. I hope you noticed that with every rejection I listed above, there was a lesson connected to it. I no longer made jokes instead of answering questions, I make jokes while answering questions. I don’t get frustrated when the interviewers repeat questions. On the contrary, I’m happy to answer them especially if I already know the answer. I learned to make sure I understand the terms of the position I’m applying to. I never wait for a response from a job posting, I just keep applying. I learned that sometimes there are better candidates, there are also better companies for which I can work for or a better fit. Finally, although the best way to get an interview is through connections, I learned not to discount the power of a resume. Applying to jobs is not difficult, so keep doing it. If you get 5 interviews out of 100 applications, that is a success. 

How many times have you been rejected? What did you learn from it? I would love to hear your answers.