How to deal with setbacks in your career

It’s common to experience a setback of some kind throughout your career. It’s important to know how to be resilient if this happens so you can bounce back quickly.

Resilience is the ability to cope with change and stress. It’s a skill that can help you stay positive in challenging situations like:

interview rejection
exam failure
redundancy
not getting a promotion
unexpected life events

How to become more resilient

Resilient people often:

have a positive frame of mind and a willingness to try new things
are keen to meet new people and grow their support network
know who to turn to and have the courage to ask for help

Trying to boost your resilience can feel daunting. This can be especially true if you have experienced multiple setbacks - for example when applying for jobs.

To help you become more resilient, you could:

reflect on your experience and try to learn from it
ask for feedback if you’re unsuccessful
remind yourself that you have coped before with difficult situations and you can do so again
have a positive outlook
connect with others and ask for help
focus on the things you can change and accept those you cannot
set yourself small goals and celebrate your achievements as you go

It’s important to be kind to yourself and remember that not always succeeding is a part of life.

Learn from your own setback

When things don’t go as planned it can be a great learning opportunity. Use your past experience to identify ways of coping that worked for you in other situations.

For example, think of a time when you:

achieved a goal
had a setback that led to a change of plan
asked for feedback from others

When thinking about these experiences try to:

focus on how you got there, rather than the end result - this will help you understand the right steps to take to be more adaptable in the future
explore your feelings to help you ‘reframe’ negative thoughts about a problem - this will help you to develop a more positive ‘can do’ attitude
think about how you react to and use criticism - this will help you to learn how to make the most of the advice others can give

Get help dealing with a setback

If you’re in school, college or university remember that there are professionals like teachers, mentors and careers advisers who can help you.

In the workplace you can get support from your manager or human resources (HR).

If you're not in work, you could speak to a Jobcentre Plus work coach.

Find resources and further help

You can speak to a careers adviser to get advice and support on dealing with setbacks in your career.

Get further help with being resilient from organisations, like:

Mind: How can I be more resilient?
Open University: Developing career resilience

Speak to an adviser

You can call 0800 100 900 or use webchat to speak to an adviser.

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