What to do next?

It's important to have a plan for how to cope when this happens:

• Take some time to regroup.

• Step away from job hunting and focus on other aspects of your life for a while.

• Try and keep it in perspective – remember it's not personal, and there will be other opportunities.

Get feedback Although feedback from interviews can be mixed, after all, they have to give a reason why they haven't appointed you, it may hold some insight into why you're not the chosen candidate.

Analyse what's going on

Asking yourself how much of a match the role is for you may help you understand whether it is a good fit. For example, my client Melanie was applying for Head of roles where she would need to set vision and strategy. Her strength was in operationalising strategy and she was being shortlisted because of her success in delivering and having an impact. She realised she was struggling to convince the interview panel of her ability to develop a vision and lead strategically.

Review your interview technique

You may only need to tweak a few aspects of your interview technique to help you stand out. One client I worked with in a senior role found it very difficult to give examples where she stressed her contribution. She always talked about the team's successes. Once she understood that the interview panel needed to understand exactly what she had done in those situations to be able to offer her the job she was able to adjust her style successfully.

For extra tips listen to the podcast episode I did on How to Wow the Interviewer

Create impact

It's important to be able to stand out and differentiate yourself as there are many great candidates out there. Get clear about your USPs and your personal brand, and how these help you to add value to the business. Foe example, I coached a client who was on the 6th round of interviews for a senior role. We'd just done some work on establishing his personal brand, which he had never even thought about before when at the interview he was asked directly how he would describe his personal brand. As a result, he was able to coherently show how his brand aligned with the role and organisation. After interview number 7 he was offered the job!

Boost your confidence

A few rejections in a row and your career confidence can start to buckle. You start to question yourself and your abilities. You start to wonder what you're doing wrong and why no one is offering you a role. This is a dangerous place to be as having a positive mindset and self belief are key elements in being successful at interview. To counter this record your successes and things you're proud of, positive feedback and a reminder of when you've done good work. This can be a powerful way of reminding yourself why you should get the job. And you can use it to counter the negative voice in your head with evidence.

Increase your resilience

You can't change the outcome but you can control how you respond to the outcome. Try viewing it as an opportunity to learn or an opportunity to refine your job search can be a powerful way of building resilience.

Get back out there!

As hard as it might seem at the time it's important to keep going. But do implement the above so you're not just repeating the same mistakes.

Get help if you need to. I love interview coaching because there are some very simple strategies that can make a big difference to performance. Don't hesitate to get in touch if you need to.

Click here to book a FREE clarity call to discover how my interview coaching can help you get the job offer next time.