- Denzel Washington, speech to U. of Penn graduates

Perfectionists are miserable because of unrealistic standards they hold for themselves and others. The rest of us will always feel the need to compensate for the imperfections by taking the road of obstacles and interference, the long route to perfection. This way, perfection confronts fear of rejection and dejection, and we arrive to see that we have overcome.

There are "NO" short cuts!
Resilient and steadfast people understand that "no" is part of the road to hearing yes. Job seekers must withstand rejection, smile, and be ready to do it again in an hour. Job seekers will hear "no" several times a day. They must be ready to endure and work around many obstacles. It is part of the process.

Disappointment such as follow-up calls and email from job seekers asking about their application, resume, or voice mail will hear "no" repeatedly. A persistent job seeker filters through "No!" The same attitude MUST wade through the waters of no replies, unanswered inquiries, and vague answers from administrative assistants.

This what makes the job search process scary and daunting--the risk of reject is frequent and unpredictable.

The rejections will lead to "YES," eventually.
Many of us hate the follow-up call for anything. This is a habit of successful people who are in sales, and who are executives. They become skilled negotiators and influence many because they have entertained "no" constantly throughout their careers. The fruit of rejection is not always a corrupt tree. Think of it as a tree of good fruit as bad fruit will always drop to the ground.

• Look at the resume one more time for an error.
• Think about your answer to the hard questions one more time.
• Stop obsessing over rejection. Start using it to perfect the delivery of goods that only you possess.

Success is the fruit of failure.
The only way to appreciate winning is losing. It is a seemingly long process that most of us go through, and find it difficult to sustain an optimistic attitude. We work on shortcomings and eventually, all of the failures make sense. People who have trouble getting on the road to success through filtering rejection have certain characteristics:

•  People who have little patience to wait, or little tolerance for rejection fail often. They are afraid to try, and fear being told "no."
•  People who do not see failure as part of the design for survival. Some very talented, underemployed yet to be job seekers are wasting their talent because they avoid rejection.
• The fear of success overcomes many of the responsibility of helping others.

Do you fit into one of these categories? Do you hate hearing "no" or any form of rejection? Do you fear success? Let me know what part of the job seeking process scares you.

By Mark Anthony Dyson

Blog.CompetitiveResumes.net