With levels of unemployment rising, more and more job hunters will be sending in their CVs to apply for positions, competing against copious amounts of other, possibly more experienced or suitable, candidates. Keeping this in mind, it is then no wonder that so many applicants may become disheartened or unmotivated after another unproductive application or interview.

However, the first thing that you must realize is that you should not take any of these rejections personally. There could be a multitude of reasons why your application or interview was not considered, and it is therefore important to follow up with your interviewer or the company HR to try and get feedback as to why your application was not considered.

Valuable feedback, or constructive criticism, will help you to learn from your experiences, and help you to better prepare for future applications and interviews. Knowing where your strengths and weaknesses lie is a positive step towards increasing your self-confidence and moving past perceived failures.

One of the most common reasons for an applicant being turned down, or not being considered, is due to unfortunate events that could lead to a less favourable first impression, such as turning up late for an interview and most often HR recruiters bemoan the amount of applications that they would not even consider because of badly written CVs. Resumes that are incorrectly addressed indicate that the applicant does not follow instructions or pay attention to details, but these are easily correctable oversights.

As most applicants do not apply through a recruitment agency, (which would be able to disclose specific reasons for an application being turned down), it is your responsibility to review your process objectively and make favourable changes once you receive comments and opinions.

Always bear in mind that you may not be a good fit for one company, but could be a great asset to another and keeping a positive attitude will always make for a better impression on a possible employer.