Free Mark McGuinness - Resilience: Facing Down Rejection by Mark McGuinness Page B

criteria for judging your application?
    When I applied to Oxford to do an English degree, the college prospectus described the academic specialisms of the two dons who were to interview me. One of them was an authority on Anglo-Saxon literature, a part of the syllabus many students dreaded. But having been captivated by the story of Beowulf in translations and retellings, I was actually looking forward to reading the original text—so I made a point of saying so in the interview. I wasn’t faking it—I was (and still am) genuinely enthusiastic about Anglo-Saxon poetry. I doubt it was the critical factor in their decision to give me a place, but I’m sure it didn’t do me any harm. And if I hadn’t done my research, I might not have thought to mention it.
    Don’t wait until the end for feedback—if you have contact with the gatekeepers during the process, they may well be giving you feedback all the way through, whether they intend to or not. When you’re talking to them, notice when they sit up and pay attention, versus looking bored or indifferent. Notice what they ask about and what they don’t ask about.
    Shortly after leaving college, I was being interviewed for some freelance proofreading work. I noticed the editor’s eyes glaze over as I waffled on about my love of literature and writing. Clearly I was doing a great job of screwing up the interview. Then I happened to mention that spelling or punctuation mistakes jumped out at me when I was reading a book, and I found them really irritating. Suddenly she sat up and beamed: “That’s exactly what I want to hear!” Even I could take the hint at that point, and I reeled off a few more of my pet hates when it came to sloppy writing and editing—and got the job.
    3. You were chasing the wrong opportunity
    Years ago I had a meeting with the owner of a prestigious West End sports club, with a view to offering hypnotherapy services to his clientele. I’d done some really good work with a few professional golfers and tennis players, so I was confident I could do a good job here. The owner asked me to give him a session so he could see how I worked, and it went… OK. Not an obvious disaster, but nothing to get excited over either. So I wasn’t surprised to get a polite ‘thanks but no thanks’ letter a few days later.
    At the time it was disappointing, but on reflection I realized I wouldn’t have been happy or successful in that context. The owner was a nice guy, the facilities were superb, and the whole setup was very professional. Looking back, I realized my gut instinct had been telling me the club didn’t feel like home to me. I would never have fitted in there.
    That taught me to focus my efforts working with people with whom I had a natural affinity—the artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs who were my most enthusiastic clients, and the most fun to work with.
    My first sales call under my new identity was to Chris Arnold , a partner in an ad agency and an ex-creative director at Saatchi and Saatchi. The first thing he asked when I picked up the phone was:
“Do you do anything creative yourself, or are you one of those consultants who just tell other people how to be creative?”
    When I told him I wrote poetry he burst out laughing and said, “I’ve never had a sales call from a poet before! Why don’t you come in for coffee?”
    A few days later, Chris welcomed me to his office. Music was playing, the walls were covered in pictures, people were wearing T-shirts and jeans. There was an electric guitar in the corner of the room. I instantly felt at home. That meeting led to several speaking gigs at conferences Chris organized, and we are still friends to this day.
    How to fix it next time:
    If you receive positive feedback on your performance, but get rejected in spite of it, maybe you’re just applying for the wrong kind of opportunity. Or maybe you get a feeling that your face doesn’t fit. You could struggle to break in and be accepted. Or