Sorry George, its a hard knock life!

And the Award for Best Actor goes to………

If you are George Clooney, the chances are that you feel gutted today. For the third time, you have been nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards, and for the third time you have left empty handed. It seems at the moment George, you are destined to be the Bridesmaid and never the Bride.

It may seem a slightly leftfield comparison, but there is a lot of similarity between the Oscars and the final stages of placement recruitment. After sifting through however many dozens of CVs, telephone interviews and assessment centres, a recruiter may find themselves with a difficult decision to make. They may have 5 or 6 outstanding candidates, all of whom would do a fantastic job in a placement year, but there may only be one position to fill. In this scenario, it may just be intangible qualities that separate the successful candidate from those who miss out.

It can be difficult for students to pick themselves up from a rejection, having seen their application progress to the latter stages. However there are positives that should be taken from the experience. Advancing to the final rounds of the interviewing process is to be commended in itself. The bigger name companies receive a ridiculous ratio of applications to opportunities, so to progress to the final stage but come up short should provide some comfort. You have already proven that you can write a good application, pass online tests and get through interviews. This should boost your confidence in your approach to your next application. You have done this once before, now go out and do it again.

There is no disguising the fact that at some point in your career, you will be overlooked for a job, whether that is when looking for placements, graduate jobs or whatever. I have been unsuccessful with applications myself and while it is only natural to be disappointed, it is better to channel your disappointment into positive energy so that your next application is better than the last, rather than become bitter about the experience.

It is a hard knock life, and like George Clooney students may find themselves waiting patiently while all those around them are getting their rewards. But in the same way that Clooney will continue to give great acting performances, students need to keep motivated and make strong applications, because their prize may be waiting just around the corner.