Born in 1964, Jack Ma is one of the wealthiest individuals in the world, with a net worth measured in the tens of billions. His fortunes began to amass when he created Alibaba while living in a small apartment in China.
Jack didn’t come from a wealthy family. He had no extraordinary financial advantages. He grew up in rural China and was two when Mao’s Little Red Book was published in 1966, with the Cultural Revolution in full swing.
Jack eventually grew up and started looking for a job. He applied everywhere, including Kentucky Fried Chicken. They had just come to China, and he felt KFC could be a big career opportunity for him.
At the World Economic Forum, Jack said, “Twenty-four people went for the job. Twenty-three were accepted. I was the only guy who wasn’t.”
Ironically, Colonel Sanders, whose famous chicken recipe was turned down 1,009 times, turned down Jack Ma.
Rejection Says Nothing About You
Now I know what you’re thinking: they rejected Jack Ma! How could they? Here’s the cold hard truth. You’ll be rejected too, and it will happen multiple times throughout your life.
This is the reality of interviewing. It feels frustrating to be turned down, but what does it say about you? Nothing.
Job seekers, the lesson here is not to take rejection personally. What’s that you say? You think it is personal? Well, it is, and it isn’t! But who cares? It’s all irrelevant when you learn what you can from the experience and move on with your job search.
Take the feedback you receive, make any necessary adjustments, and get on with the next interview. (And when the rejection arrives as silence instead of an answer, here’s what radio silence after a final interview really means.)
Accepting rejection as failure is how we’ve been conditioned to feel. But what if that’s a false belief? What if instead you decided to get curious about why you were rejected? What if you chose to believe that rejection only moves you one step further along the journey to the next destination?
One other unusual fact about Jack Ma: when he applied to KFC, he also submitted applications for 30 additional positions. He was rejected by every single one of them.
What if Jack had just given up? Thank goodness we’ll never know. Eventually, Ma was hired as an English teacher, and his teaching career led him to the United States, where he met Yahoo founder Jerry Yang, secured funding, and drove eBay out of China. (An oversimplification of the facts, but you get the point.)
He Never Quit Believing in Himself
Jack could have seen himself as unemployable and not cut out for the marketplace. But he didn’t. Ma kept going, and he kept believing in himself.
Persistence was a core principle of his life. Harvard rejected his application ten times. He took one of the toughest university entrance exams, the gaokao, failed the first two attempts, and passed on the third. Of course he wasn’t immune to frustration, but he didn’t let it stop him from looking for ways to advance.
The third nugget of wisdom from Jack is to protect your state of mind. Ma remained optimistic and always looked for an opportunity. He believes that where there is worry, there is a problem to solve, and much like Zig Ziglar, he trusts that fortune lies in helping customers by solving their problems.
So if you’re looking for a new position and having a hard time finding the right fit, or you’ve been rejected by a few companies, don’t worry. Don’t start doubting yourself. If you’re good at what you do, and you’re continuously working to improve, you’ll find the job you’re looking for. Just keep going.
Six Things Successful Job Seekers Do to Move the Search Forward
Job searches can be difficult for a multitude of reasons, but you can learn to navigate the terrain just like others who are successful at it. Assuming you already have a strong LinkedIn profile and a decent-looking resume, here are six actions you can take today.
1. Look up former colleagues and reach out. Let them know you’re looking, and ask if they know of openings they might refer you to at their current company.
2. Find your former bosses. What are they doing? Reach out, let them know you may be calling them for a reference soon, and update them on your situation. They may have opportunities at their current or previous companies.
3. Investigate where others with similar backgrounds have worked. Have former colleagues been hired by a particular company? Make a list and start reaching out to those people.
4. Identify parallel skills that provide exceptional value. Say you speak French and sell software. Find companies headquartered in Paris with US offices and start reaching out to them in French.
5. Reconsider the boomerang. Can you, or would you, go back to your old company? Perhaps in a different group, or under new leadership? You’re known to them, and if you left on favorable terms, you’re likely to be considered for new roles.
6. Read relevant news in your area of expertise. Start conversations with potential employers by passing along insights, and see where the conversation takes you. Maybe they have openings you’d fit.
Develop Powerful Job Hunting Skills
Most people hate looking for a job. It can be uncomfortable, awkward, and even demoralizing. But job changes are a normal part of every modern career, so it’s essential to learn how to conduct a successful search. (And if the interviews aren’t coming at all, start with the five reasons salespeople don’t get interviews.)
Besides, when you learn how to find a job that truly fits, your career advances faster than it ever would in a role that doesn’t meet your expectations. Knowing what you’re good at and what you need is where that starts. And when you uncover a unique opportunity, even if it means relocating, seize it.
