Be Grateful for Rejections - Anecdotes about Rejections in Job Hunting Process
Tags: webdev, jobhunt
Published: 2022-12-26 16:41:19


> *Remember to constantly remind yourself: 
> "Be grateful for the rejection, you are one step closer to getting a better offer!"*
>

With the completion of the Codeworks bootcamp, one then realises that an even bigger challenge is on the horizon. Yes, job hunting in tech is a daunting task, a full time job in itself. In particular, for someone without a meaningful commercial software development experience, one will likely face multiple rejections before one eventually lands on a full time software developer role. 

**Facing Multiple Rejections**
In this article, having had the experience of facing multiple rejections, I would like to share some anecdotes about my experience with rejections and how I handled them with a positive mindset during the job hunting process. I hope that it will inject some positive thinking and provide some form of encouragement to others who are currently in the job hunting process, and hopefully will also inspire others to share your own experiences as well.

**Handle Rejections with a Positive Mindset**
Receiving a rejection email or news from a company, which you have invested time going through various stages of the application process, can be demoralising. But it doesn't have to be that way. One can, and should, view job interview as a match-making process. You learn more about the company's culture, their way of working and the individuals that you will be working with, through the interview process, and you may or may not like what you have learnt. 

**Avoided a "Toxic Startup"**
One of the first companies which I had interviewed with, had less than stellar reviews on Glassdoor. Inevitably, there will always be disgruntled staff in every workplace, but Glassdoor reviews give you a good insight about the company's culture and how the company treats its staff. In addition to the single negative review below, there were a few other similarly negative reviews about the company on Glassdoor.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/d08ezxowzdes8bwe9s54.png)

Having gone through the 1st round interview with the company, I was invited to a live coding test, and I received a rejection email from the company after that. While it was disappointing, I was relieved at the same time. Had they offered me the role and had I accepted it, I would probably have walked into a "toxic workplace", to quote one of the former employee's reviews at Glassdoor. Sticking to a positive mindset, one can't help but feel lucky to have avoided this company. 
***Moral of the story: Rejection from a company is positive if the company has a toxic workplace.***

**Avoided a Shaky Startup**
Early on in my job hunting process (around early October), I was invited to an interview for a frontend developer role with a crypto-bank startup. I spoke to the HR person in my 1st screening round and he assured me that, while the company was an early stage startup, they had a "solid, blue-chip" financial backer. And guess who was the financial backer? It turned out to be none other than the now-bankrupt FTX! Having passed the 1st screening round, I was given a technical take-home assignment, then I was invited to another live coding round with the Frontend Lead. I got a rejection email from the company after that. As we all know by now, FTX saw an implosion and collapsed in early November and, as they said, the rest is history.
***Moral of the story: A rejection is a blessing in disguise when you found out, ex-post, that you have avoided a company saddled with funding problem due to the financial calamity of its financial backer.***

**Promised to be Agile But...**
Another company which I had interviewed with, was truly fast-moving with their hiring process, at least initially. I completed the 1st screening round with the tech lead, 2nd round with the company's director/founder and 3rd round live-coding test, all within a week. When I met the company's director, he impressed upon me that, given the small size of the firm (about 20+ employees), the company adopted an agile hiring process and can move quickly with the right candidate without having to wait for other processes. 

Having gone through all the rounds, which I thought I had performed well and was given such impression during the process, I was promised to be informed of the outcome 2 days later. One week went by and no news from them, then came the second week, still no news from them for the first few days. Finally, on the final day of the 2nd week, I received a rejection news from the company. At this point, I had already received a great offer from another company, so I was not that bothered about this promised-agile-but-slow-moving company anymore. In a way, I was thankful that they had moved slowly, had they moved fast and offered me the role and had I accepted it, I would have missed a better offer from another firm (which is fully remote with great pay and benefits). 
***Moral of the story: Don't be disheartened if you received a rejection, be hopeful that there is a better opportunity awaits you around the corner.***

**Closing Thought**
Facing multiple rejections is an inevitable part of the job hunting process, especially tech jobs. I hope that the anecdotes above would inspire you to embrace rejections with a positive mindset and strengthen your resolve to persevere and break into tech in 2023.

```
Remember to constantly remind yourself: 
Be grateful for the rejection, 
you are one step closer to getting a better offer!
```