Hacking Academia

Understanding and Managing Professional Rejection


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REJECTED! 😭 😭 😭

How often has your heart sunk as you read that e-mail, or received that phone call.

Whether it’s a job application, promotion, grant or fellowship proposal, award or prize nomination – whatever it is, rejection can take a toll.

And, at least for me, many hundreds of rejections later, it’s never gotten β€œeasy”. Easier perhaps, but never easy!

In my newest video, I cover key concepts for understanding and managing rejection in a professional context. I differentiate between useful and useless types of rejection. I cover the key concept of volatility with an illustrative example, and present a range of very simple strategies for managing and responding to rejection.

Please reshare if useful πŸ™

πŸ•’ Timestamps are as follows:

πŸ“Œ (0:00) Rejection Montage
πŸ“Œ (0:05) Professional Rejection Is Ever-Present
πŸ“Œ (0:13) Rejection Means You Are Pushing Your Boundaries
πŸ“Œ (0:21) Understanding and Managing Rejection
πŸ“Œ (0:33) Professional Rejection Can Take Many Forms
πŸ“Œ (0:55) Rejection Never Becomes Easy
πŸ“Œ (1:02) Rejection Stings Because You Care
πŸ“Œ (1:16) Rejection Can Be a Great Learning Opportunity
πŸ“Œ (1:24) Useful Rejection Needs a Good Feedback Signal
πŸ“Œ (1:39) Never Getting Rejected is a Useful Feedback Signal
πŸ“Œ (1:55) Toxic Rejection is Not Helpful
πŸ“Œ (2:14) Rejection for Hopeless Cases is Also Not Useful
πŸ“Œ (2:25) Rejection Fables Aren’t Necessarily Helpful
πŸ“Œ (2:49) Always Consider the Opportunity Cost
πŸ“Œ (3:12) An Extremely High Rejection Rate is Not Healthy
πŸ“Œ (3:23) Understanding Volatility is Key
πŸ“Œ (3:35) Volatility is Most Impactful at Early Career Stages
πŸ“Œ (3:46) Volatility Scenario: Repeated Applications
πŸ“Œ (4:08) An Above Average Proposal Can Still Get Rejected
πŸ“Œ (4:27) Strong Candidates Can Strike Out Three Times
πŸ“Œ (4:50) Volatility is Somewhat Easier for Senior People
πŸ“Œ (5:25) Early Success Can Be Brutal
πŸ“Œ (5:48) Filtering Feedback From a Rejection is Messy
πŸ“Œ (6:42) Better Managing Rejection
πŸ“Œ (6:52) Increasing Your Numbers
πŸ“Œ (7:30) Avoiding β€œDead on Arrival” Applications
πŸ“Œ (8:15) Recycling and Repurposing
πŸ“Œ (8:48) Minimizing Loose Ends
πŸ“Œ (9:08) Managing the Toll of Rejection
πŸ“Œ (9:16) Quarantining Personal Time from Rejection News
πŸ“Œ (9:31) Delaying Processing of Rejection
πŸ“Œ (9:53) Bond With Others in the Same Boat
πŸ“Œ (10:15) Rejection Can Get Easier, Somewhat
πŸ“Œ (10:25) Experience Gives Perspective
πŸ“Œ (10:50) Rejection Will Always Be There
πŸ“Œ (11:01) Rejection Will Always Sting at Least a Little Bit
πŸ“Œ (11:09) Make Sure You Celebrate Your Wins and Successes!

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Hacking AcademiaBy Michael