If at first you dont succeed build your resilience. University of Manchester Careers Blog

If at first you dont succeed build your resilience. Success and doing well are obviously key goals, but oh the platitudes people come out with.. Hard work always pays off   (but it doesnt always, does it?) Its not about win or lose its about how you play the game (if it wasnt about winning why are there prizes for winning) Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations (yes and so do easy ones, so why go the hard way?) The sad fact is everyone cant come top or win all the time, so its likely at some point you will experience not getting what you want no matter how hard you try.   What you do at this point will determine your future. Lets imagine Your favourite sports team (insert name here), its the first game of the season they have been training for months and feel at the top of their game.   The  match starts, they play well, but try as they might they still lose the match.   They are upset and  angry, they  walk off  and decide never to play again, end of story!   But thats not what happens is it? People talk about resilience and bouncing back but what does that really mean? Its not about carrying on regardless, you need to pause and consider your next approach. So to take some examples, you dont win the SU election, you dont get selected for the team you dont get the job you applied for what do you do? Its normal to be upset or even angry. Talk to friends to get some comfort, vent a little about the unfairness of the world then take a breath and just  stop for a moment. Take some time to think about what happened. Can you be objective, can you identify any particular issues? You may find  this article helpful You  need to  think about what you could do differently next time.  Is it time to talk to experts who can support you and help you evaluate your next move? Take action, implement changes in approach and try again. The time it takes to go through stages 1-3 and the action you decide to take will define your resilience. You may find your first experience of failure or  rejection tough to process but you can learn from it and thats important to help you cope better  in future. In the world of job applications and interviews there  will be no one approach that will guarantee winning. Your strategy has to be adapted for the employer and industry, it takes research, preparation and yes sometimes repeated attempts, each time getting closer.  Honestly, there are barriers to overcome and its not always easy or straight forward. On occasion you  may need to be prepared to change your strategy entirely, talk to us  about  this. My advice Dont take it personally, do take advice,  please keep trying. All Applications and interviews Careers advice Undergraduate Undergraduate-highlighted applications Applications and interviews resilience