MW ?How to restart your career after a wave of job rejections

By Stacey Delo

'The job market has become more soul-crushing than ever.' These 5 steps can lead you to success.

Try to see rejection notices like a sales process - it takes a lot of calls to close just one deal.

If you're actively searching for a job, you're likely familiar with automated email responses to your employment application, such as these:

"Thank you for your interest..."

"We appreciate your application..."

"It's not you..."

Or my favorite: crickets.

Sometimes these rejection messages land quickly (did anyone even read the application?). Other times, they take weeks to reach an inbox. Sometimes, even after an interview, there's nothing.

In fact, "61% of job seekers have been ghosted after a job interview, a nine percentage point increase since April 2024," according to a recent State of Job Hunting survey from hiring-software company Greenhouse. The report blames AI for making it easier to apply to jobs, thus flooding hiring managers with applications to a point that it's difficult for them to keep up.

"The data highlights a troubling reality - the job market has become more soul-crushing than ever," Greenhouse president and co-founder Jon Stross said in the report.

If you've come anywhere near the job market lately, you'll know he's not wrong. But as we learned from the U.S. labor report for June, jobs are still flowing into the economy. Rather than continue to beat your head against the desk, look at your situation with fresh eyes and use these steps to recharge your efforts.

1. Give yourself some grace: For starters, recognize you're not alone. Despite the number of job seekers and job openings being fairly in balance in today's labor market - about one opening per job seeker, some jobs simply may be in higher demand. Geography or job losses in a particular sector (for example, U.S. government workers) could lead to a higher rate of applications in a concentrated space, and therefore, more rejections.

For example, a recruiter on LinkedIn posted that she had sent 1,200 rejection letters out for just two positions at her biotech company in the Durham, N.C. area, a biotech hub. And recently, a coaching client and a friend in a different state indicated interest in the same opportunity at a trendy food-delivery company located in yet another state. Try to see rejection notices like a sales process - it takes a lot of calls to close just one deal.

Read: I'm a stay-at-home mom. Do I take a part-time job to spend more time with my kids - or get a job for six figures?

Stop scrolling on job sites and really examine your skills and experience.

2. Pause and reset: When clients come to me in this circular cycle of applying to many jobs without success, their confidence is shot and they're confused about what direction to take or what roles to pursue. Many times, they're applying to positions that are completely disconnected from each other, say a mix of executive assistant, content marketing and event planning roles. They lack discipline in their approach and instead are popcorning it, leaving them defeated and depleted.

In today's competitive job market, it's critical to regroup, become laser-focused on your skill set, determine where it fits, and narrow down the jobs to go after. This allows for a more confident and targeted approach. The first step to take here is to stop scrolling on job sites and really examine your skills and experience. Which stand out or are the ones you want to lean into? Return to the job boards only when you can identify two or three job titles within perhaps one industry that interests you - and you can confidently tell someone what it is you want to do.

Good things can happen while you're doing something else.

3. Fuel your spirit: If all you're doing is applying for work and feeling rejected, this permeates your being and becomes noticeable to others. Set boundaries on how much time to spend searching for a job, and dedicate time to something else that boosts your confidence.

For example, get back into a sport you used to love, go to the movies or take a class. Universities offer short courses through Coursera - for instance, a public-speaking class or the Google Project Management Certificate. This fall, I've signed up to volunteer in elementary schools for an hour a week because I'm passionate about sparking a love for learning in kids.

Whatever you choose, it should energize you and be something to look forward to. Who might you meet? What new quality might you (re)discover about yourself? Good things can happen while you're doing something else.

Put AI to work as a partner in your job search.

4. Get to know AI: No, really, get to know AI. This is not the time to be saying, "Oh, I know it's there, but I haven't wanted to really engage with it yet." Now is absolutely the time to engage.

In fact, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, "nearly 1 in 4 U.S. tech jobs posted so far this year are seeking employees with artificial-intelligence skills." And it's not just in information technology. As the article explains, it's happening across sectors. It's also, unfortunately, likely coming for your job. Amazon.com $(AMZN.UK)$ Chief Executive Andy Jassy told employees that AI would mean "fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs."

Start by familiarizing yourself with the available tools: ChatGPT, Gemini (from Alphabet's Google $(GOOG.UK)$ $(GOOGL)$) and Claude, to name just a few. Ask the AI a question. Converse with it. Ask how your career field is incorporating AI and which jobs are most at risk (this may help you with a pivot plan). Better yet, try asking AI for a pivot plan that matches your skill set. Or be creative - summarize that novel in your head and let it help you write it. Discover how it can be used in a business capacity by instructing the AI tool you're using to build images for a presentation or develop a persuasive presentation. Google Slides or the design platform Canva could be good places to test this.

Put AI to work as a partner in your job search and understand how recruiters are deploying it. Ask ChatGPT to align your resume with a job description - LinkedIn offers this as a built-in service, which could help a resume get through the AI tool filtering applications in talent acquisition systems. Be careful - AI tends to overexaggerate and flatter, so be sure to apply your own truth serum to the results and use its suggestions as a guide to improve your resume. AI can also help with interview preparation, cover letters or an updated LinkedIn profile - really anything you want, which is both a blessing and a curse.

5. Go where the growth is: While the latest jobs report shows that the pace of hiring is slowing, hiring is still happening. There are more than 7 million job openings across the United States. Use the data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics $(BLS.SI)$ to identify which sectors added the most jobs in the previous month.

For example, in May, more jobs were created in healthcare, travel and leisure, and social assistance. Or look at the fastest-growing careers according to the BLS. Identify the companies or organizations in your area that fall into these sectors - and those hiring remotely - and position yourself for roles in these growth areas.

There's no doubt it takes resilience to keep putting one foot in front of the other to find a job, especially as rejections roll in and it feels like the hiring world is against you. Take time to reset, gain new AI skills and research existing opportunities. This new perspective on your job hunt will build your momentum.

So this week, pick at least one of the steps outlined here to complete - whether it's a full-stop pause to reset and reassess your skills or signing up for a certificate course. The right opportunity is out there. Now you have a road map to find it.

Stacey Delo is a career and leadership development coach, public speaker and co-author of "Your Turn: Careers, Kids and Comebacks."

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-Stacey Delo

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July 15, 2025 08:05 ET (12:05 GMT)

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