Rejection stings, but you can’t let it get you down forever.

It’s hard to say which is worse: being stuck in job hunt limbo with nobody giving you the time of day, or finally landing an interview that seems to go well, only to end with a big fat rejection email. Job hunting is really hard sometimes, and when it doesn’t yield fruit, it can be a major blow to your confidence and productivity. But while you’re allowed to feel that pain, that’s not all you should do.

Let’s assume you get an interview, and by all accounts it seems to go great. Why didn’t it pan out, then? Take a hard look at your job-hunting toolkit. Is your resume too detailed? Is it not detailed enough? How about your interview etiquette? Did you sell yourself properly? Is your skillset entirely relevant to the position? It’s not fun to be self-critical, obviously, but you need to approach this calmly and analytically.

You also need to remember that sometimes life just doesn’t go your way. Remember that interviewers conduct a lot of interviews on a regular basis; even if you were qualified for the position and sold yourself well, there’s a distinct chance that they simply found someone even better. In that case, there’s not much you can do besides take the hit on the chin and dust yourself off. By all means, take some time to be angry and upset about your misfortune, but afterward, it’s back to the job-hunting grind.

If you’re having a string of rejections, you might want to put a brief pause on your hunt altogether, just for a few days. Take the time to care for yourself, rebuild your confidence, double-check your resources, then try again. Job hunting is a battle of attrition, and as with any battle, you gotta be in a good state of mind to win it.