During Year 13, there was one word I saw in my inbox more than any other: unsuccessful.

It appeared in emails after interviews, online assessments, and applications I had spent hours preparing. “Unfortunately, your application has been unsuccessful.” At first, I won’t lie - it was hard not to take that personally. When I spent time researching a company and preparing for interviews, seeing that word again and again started to affect my confidence.

I began questioning myself. Was I doing something wrong? Was I just not good enough? 

But over time, I realised something important. Being unsuccessful for one opportunity didn’t mean I was unsuccessful as a person. 

Sometimes it simply meant that opportunity wasn’t the right fit.

At the start of Year 13, I already knew I wanted to go down the apprenticeship route. The idea of learning while working really appealed to me. University is the right path for a lot of people, but apprenticeships felt like the right path for me. I wanted to be in the job, building practical skills and learning from people who were already doing the job.

So I started applying.

At the beginning, it felt exciting. Every application felt like a new opportunity. I would research the company and imagine what it would be like if I actually got the role. But the rejections slowly started coming in. One rejection turned into a few, then a few turned into ten, and eventually there were more than 50.

And every time, it was the same word: unsuccessful.

At the same time, I was watching people around me go through their own journeys. Some secured offers early and moved forward with their plans. Others became discouraged after a few rejections and stopped applying. Seeing that made the process feel even more uncertain at times.

There were definitely moments where I wondered whether I should stop too. But something in me didn’t want to give up.

One thing that helped was changing how I thought about rejection. Every company is looking for something slightly different - different personalities, different strengths. Just because one company didn’t see my potential didn’t mean another company wouldn’t.

So instead of seeing rejection as failure, I began to see it as part of the process. Each interview helped me get better at explaining my ideas. Each rejection pushed me to reflect and improve. Each application gave me more experience and confidence.

Another thing that helped me stay patient was my faith. In Islam, there is a concept called tawakkul -  trusting Allah’s plan while still putting in the effort. It means understanding that things might not happen exactly when I expect them to, but what is meant for me will never miss me.

A verse from the Quran stayed with me during that period: “Indeed, with hardship comes ease.” (Quran 94:6). Whenever another rejection came through, I reminded myself of that. Sometimes things take longer than expected, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t coming.

Instead of stopping, I focused on improving. I reflected on interviews, worked on communicating my ideas more clearly, and spoke to people already working in the industry to learn from their experiences.

Then, in May, everything changed.

After months of applications, interviews, and setbacks, I finally received the offer I had been working toward - a Technical Sales Degree Apprenticeship at Cisco, one of the world’s leading technology companies. After seeing the word “unsuccessful” so many times, receiving that offer felt surreal.

Looking back now, I realise something important: those rejections weren’t wasted. They helped me stay resilient even when the process felt discouraging.

Seeing that word so many times taught me that being unsuccessful in one place doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity somewhere else. Sometimes it simply means the right opportunity hasn’t appeared yet.

And for me, that opportunity eventually did.

Omar Abdel Hady

Solutions Engineer Degree Apprentice @ Cisco | Technical Presales | Cisco Technologies

You can find out more and connect with Omar on LinkedIn.