What can we learn from Sabalenka's recent loss at Roland Garros
This weekās episode of The Job Hunting Podcast is about something I often see with clients, but that we donāt always talk about openly: the emotional side of job searching.
The idea came to me after watching Aryna Sabalenkaās post-match interview at Roland Garros. She had just lost a match many people expected her to win, and she looked devastated. At one point, she said she felt like she wanted to quit tennis.
I discussed the interview with my father (he loves talking about tennis), and he made a comment that stayed with me. He said that Sabalenka has the body, strength, skill, and talent of an elite tennis player. But in moments like that, what is being tested is the mindset.
And of course, I immediately thought about job seekers.
I know tennis and job searching are not the same thing. But there is something similar about being judged publicly and repeatedly while trying to perform at your best. In a job search, you may not be standing on a court in front of thousands of people, but you are still putting yourself forward over and over again. You are being assessed, compared, rejected, ignored, interviewed, shortlisted, and sometimes left waiting for weeks with no explanation.
That takes a toll.
I see this with clients all the time. Someone comes to me after a redundancy, a bad interview, a difficult conversation with a manager, a long silence from recruiters, or a rejection they thought they had prepared themselves for. And while the circumstances are different, the emotional pattern is often the same.
The person starts to question themselves.
They wonder if they are still relevant. They wonder if they are too old, too senior, too expensive, too niche, or too generalist. They start to wonder if one bad outcome means something bigger about their whole career.
And this is where I often need to slow things down.
Because there is a difference between āI feel rejectedā and āI am not employable.ā There is a difference between āI had a bad interviewā and āI will never get another opportunity.ā There is a difference between āI am tiredā and āI should give up.ā
That gap matters.
I donāt believe in telling job seekers to toughen up. I donāt find that helpful, and I donāt think it is kind. Emotions are not the enemy. Often, they are telling us something important. Disappointment tells us something mattered. Fear tells us that something feels uncertain. Anger might tell us that a boundary has been crossed. Exhaustion might tell us that the current approach is no longer sustainable.
The issue is not that you feel these things. The issue is whether those feelings are now making decisions for you.
So if you are in one of those moments right now, I want to offer you a simple way to pause before you act.
First, stabilise. Before sending the email, rewriting the CV again, applying for ten jobs you donāt really want, or deciding the whole process is hopeless, ask yourself: What am I feeling? What story am I telling myself? What do I know for sure? What am I assuming?
This first step is important because when we are tired or afraid, our first interpretation is not always the most accurate one.
Then, diagnose. Try to look at the situation as information. What actually happened? Is this a one-off event or a pattern? Where might the bottleneck be? Are you not getting interviews? Are you getting interviews but not offers? Are people unclear about what you want next? Are you applying too broadly? Are you exhausted and sending weaker applications?
Different problems need different responses. That is why it helps to understand what is really going on before deciding what to do next.
And finally, act. Choose one useful next step. Not the most dramatic step. Not the step that comes from panic. One useful, professional next step.
It might be asking for feedback. It might be rewriting one part of your CV. It might be calling someone in your network. It might be preparing better examples for the next interview. It might be taking a day away from the job search so that you can return with more energy.
One question I like is this: What would the calm, strategic version of me do next?
Not the panicked version. Not the wounded version. Not the version that wants to send an email at midnight. The calm, strategic version.
That is the person we need to bring back into the room.
This weekās episode is called When You Want to Quit: The Job Search Mindset Shift, and I hope it helps you think differently about rejection, redundancy, difficult interviews, and those moments when the job search feels heavier than usual.
Because one rejection is not your career. One bad interview is not your identity. One difficult manager is not the final authority on your value. And one emotional day does not mean you should quit.
Sometimes it simply means you need to pause, reset, and decide what the next useful step should be.
The Job Hunting Podcast Ep. 337 - When You Want to Quit: The Job Search Mindset Shift
Job searching can test even the most experienced professionals. In this episode, I reflect on Sabalenkaās emotional loss at Roland Garros and explain why job seekers need to move from emotional reaction to strategic response after rejection, redundancy, long job searches, interviews, and career setbacks.
Time Out
- As you read this document, I am flying somewhere between London and Melbourne. It's a long flight, and I have a few things saved on my phone to keep me entertained. First off the list is the new season of Sweet Magnolias on Netflix. It's sweet, it's sleepy, and that's all I want in a long flight.
- When will a J-Lo movie get a good review? Not even with an amazing writer like Brett Goldstein does the woman get a break from the critics. I don't care. J-Lo is the queen of romcom, and I am watching Office Romance on the plane. And probably again when I get home.
- Matt Corby is one of the most beautiful voices in Australia. Watching him sing Amazing Grace with his younger self is so lovely and emotional. Worth watching on Instagram.
- Follow my Stories on Instagram to see how my trip back home is going. I'll probably be sharing a few pics.
I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. Please reply to this email if you need to ask me any questions about my coaching services - I'd be happy to help you.
Until next week
RB
