“Good salespeople and confident job-seekers accept the ebb and flow of the process. They don’t see a ‘no thanks’ message as a rejection because they know that not everybody deserves their talents anyway.” — Liz Ryan
Until I moved to the US, most of my career in Spain had been as an employee in customer service. While that saw me taking on translation jobs, I never felt like a real translator because there was something else I could combine it with.
Just check, for instance, “translator positions” for companies that are not translation agencies. They will ask you to do everything: answer the phone, write emails, interpret, do numbers, do social media, sell products to get bonus pay, etc.
READ: Economic With The Truth
According to my former employers, there was just not enough work to do as a translator. That is why I began freelancing part-time, but nobody had prepared me for the amount of rejection that was to come. I almost gave up!
Even if I had completed my college degree in Translation and had accumulated years of experience as a translator — both in-house and freelancing — I was still feeling like an impostor and unworthy of calling myself a translator.
MORE: Impostor Syndrome
In fact, when I came to America, I told myself that I would change careers if I did not make it as a full-time translator here. That was when I discovered Liz Ryan. Her tips and advice forever changed the way I saw the workplace.
I used to value myself based on how others valued me. Therefore, if others rejected me or told me I did not meet a number of requirements for a job, I blamed myself for it. That is, I had failed, and something was wrong with me.
DISCOVER: Growth
Liz Ryan helped me reverse that thinking and transform it into “only those who get me deserve me.”
Just like others had told me no in the past, I also began saying no myself more often. Changing my mindset helped me do things differently and, therefore, obtain different results. And, as the years pass, I can say I am closer to where I want to be.
I am not made of stone — rejection does not feel great. But when you think of rejection as redirection, you cannot help feeling grateful. Next time you are denied an opportunity, look at the bigger picture as you may have dodged a bullet!
And remember not to put all of your focus in just one place.
How about you? Do you blame yourself when you are rejected? Do you consider it a failure? Let me know in the comments below!