Why failure can lead to success University of Manchester Careers Blog

Why failure can lead to success University of Manchester Careers Blog Last week wasn’t a great week for English or Spanish football fans as expectancy and in England’s case hope turned into disappointment. The expressions of Gerrard and co at the end of the Uruguay match were that of failure and of desperation. It might not have seemed like it at the time but failing isn’t the end of the world, instead it can actually be the first step on the road to success. Everybody experiences some form of failure in their life. For most it’s not crashing out of international tournament football, for me it was failing job interviews. I’m sure some of you will have also experienced this so I wanted to share my thoughts on how to turn this failure into success. It’s all about learning from experiences and taking the right steps to ensure success next time. Use these steps to turn failure in to success (are you’re reading Roy….?) Focus on the positives Just like Raheem Sterling’s man of the match performance against Italy positives can draw from any situation. The most important thing to remember is that even getting to the interview stage was a successâ€" you clearly demonstrated the right skills in your application. Even if you weren’t successful, going through the interview process once means that you’ll have a better understanding of what’s required next time. For example you might have more of an understanding about how to deal with nerves and the types of questions that might be asked. Listen to feedback As Roy Hodgson listened to pundits and played Rooney in a more central position against Uruguay, after an interview it’s important that you take on board the feedback given to you by employers. Getting feedback is a great way to learn from the experience enabling you to become better prepared for future interviews. When receiving feedback don’t be defensive, listen to what they are saying, take it onboard   and make a note of areas they feel you need to develop. Re-evaluate and get help I’m sure there is a lot of soul searching going on amongst the Spanish and England squads at the moment as they consider where to go from here. This is what you also need to do after a an interview. Review the feedback given to you by the employer and think about how you can address their concerns. For example if they say you lack relevant experience consider work shadowing/ volunteering in the area, if the employer raised issues about your performance during the interview booking an interview simulation with us will be a good idea. Move on (with hope in your heart!) Although the media may remind us on England’s performance for weeks to come it’s important not to dwell on your previous interviews.  You can’t change what has happened in the past but you can learn from events and use them to your advantage.I cant promise these steps will help England win the World Cup in 4 years time but they will   give you the best chance of interview sucess in the future. The Careers Service can help you in lots of way when preparing for interviews check out the information on our website and book an appointment to discuss or practice upcoming interviews. All Graduate