She is a 10x stronger candidate this year. Worked twice as hard. Spent weeks fine-tuning every application. Attended every event. Practised her interview answers every single day.⁣
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And guess what? She received double the rejections this year compared to last year. Not even an online test invite.⁣
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She took this as a confirmation that she isn’t good enough.⁣
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But does she really know that? Do I know that?⁣
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No. What I do know is that results won’t show up like you want them to. Don’t expect to see a linear pathway from rejection to interview to offer. Instead, expect to see rejections, rejections, rejections, maybe some interviews, more rejections, and then finally an offer.⁣
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This is why it’s important to have the right scoreboard. If you measure your worth by the offers you receive, you’ll draw the wrong conclusions.⁣
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Here’s what I want to know: Are you more confident in justifying ‘why you?’? Has your writing improved? Can you better justify your motivations? Do you have more informed opinions on business news?⁣
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Your rate of improvement over time. That’s what I care about. Even if your results are flatlining right now, your time isn’t wasted. It means that when things are in your control, when luck is on your side, you’ll have done the hard stuff. You’ll have put in the time to nail it.