Watch the online discussions in LinkedIn groups about job searching and you’ll find that people gripe as much as seek advice. That’s just natural. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of complaining publically, but my spouse will tell you that I enjoy my fair share when we are alone.

From this online mix of discussions about science employment, one common thread jumps out from those who succeed in their job search, whether they are approaching it in stealth mode due to current employment, or in the all-out-warfare approach when unemployed. That magic ingredient seems to me to be resilience. Resilience keeps you plugging away when that hard-fought battle to accumulate data on a new project results in a three-page critique from the project manager. Resilience keeps you coming back to the bench after yet another experimental setback.

While resilience is known by all as a key ingredient of a successful science career, its importance is often forgotten when it comes to finding a job. Here are the three keys to resilience.

#1: The job search is a numbers game
In any job search, there will be times when you have to close your mind to emotion and move forward. I believe that the best way to bounce back is not to start bouncing in the first place. Don’t fall into the trap of allowing your emotions to take you up and down on every yes or no.

Whenever you find an interesting opportunity, put your best foot forward and feel good about checking off another item on your job search to-do list. It’s OK and, in fact, expected that you’ll lose out on the majority of opportunities, because finding a job is to some extent a numbers game. Here are some typical numbers: It could take 10-15 “good fit” job applications to get a phone interview; it might take five phone interviews to get an onsite interview invitation; and then, it could take five onsite interviews before you see a job offer. My point is that it’s a process, with a beginning, middle, and end, and you can’t jump from the start directly to the finish.

I don’t know what your numbers will be, as it will also depend on your CV, credentials, interviewing skills, and more, but I promise that there’s a job at the end of it if you persist. Track your numbers. Feel good even about rejections, because you’re moving closer to your end point.

#2: Know the rules of the game
You may be like many of my scientist or engineer friends who, in their early years, believed their ultimate job would be a professorship. And in fact, they were trained in academia to follow their mentor’s lead on all matters regarding job searching. No one paid a hoot to how to train you to find a job in a company.

But luckily for you, you’ve made the break from the training days and have a successful industry career that you’ll market to get yourself the next opportunity. But here’s where I’ll throw in a bit of caution: Are you still approaching the job search process as that academic advisor would have taught you? Or, are you managing it with the guerilla marketing approach that we’ve come to expect in industry? I ask you to think about this, because the rules of job searching are completely different in the two worlds of academia and industry. To maintain your resilience, it’s important that you don’t waste energy by fighting the rules of the game you are playing.

In academia, you follow the rules outlined in an advertisement: “Submit a CV and three letters of reference.” That’s expected; you must do what they request. But in industry, recruiters or hiring managers have no problem with you finding their job in any way whatsoever.

Employers tell you in their ads to apply through their online job portals, but should you leave your job prospects to a single perfect online position response? Absolutely not. I’d estimate that there are 20 times more positions that are not advertised than those that are advertised. Knowing the rules of the game and being resilient, you won’t count on those website portals doing anything for you. You’ll need to take a much more active role.

You guessed it: You’re expected to network. Read, talk to others, and conduct informational interviews and coffee sessions at trade shows. Networking is the stuff that makes or breaks your job search. Because of this, it is this potential for rejection as you reach out to new contacts that requires reservoirs of resilience.

#3: Stop labeling things as good or bad
Do you want to be more resilient? Don’t label everything that happens during your job search as good or bad. Heck, it’s just stuff. It’s when you start labeling things that you find yourself spiraling into the wrong frame of mind. By labeling each and every outcome, you put yourself in a position where you aren’t seeing the big picture any longer. Remember, it’s a numbers game and your job is to approach your first opportunity and your 50th opportunity with similar levels of enthusiasm.

The web is littered with gripers who have invested huge amounts of emotion in every action they’ve taken on their search, and they’ve labeled every resulting reaction from employers. After a string of negative responses, they fall into a slump that is nearly impossible to break out of.

In a recent interview with Inc. Magazine, Srikumar Rao, the author of the book, “Are You Ready to Succeed,” used a relevant analogy. Imagine that you are a civil engineer, and you’ve been asked to build a road from point A to point B. Along that 200-mile route there are mountains, jungles and rivers to cross. Are you going to be upset with the mountain or label the jungle and curse? No. You expect these things, because they’re just a part of your job. It’s just the terrain.

As a qualified engineer or scientist looking for work, your terrain will include rude people you’ll meet in your early networking attempts, rejection by companies you introduce yourself to, and lousy interviews where you’ll want to kick yourself for something you said. Your job search will also appear to be the most difficult project you’ve ever undertaken; perhaps at times it will seem insurmountable. But it’s not. It’s just the terrain.

Do you deserve success?
I say that you do deserve success in your job search. But, it will likely take another giant effort—perhaps not as large as earning your college degree, but certainly something that no one warned you about when you were going to school. You spent a long time and a great deal of sweat equity earning that diploma that hangs on the wall. Now, you need to put out a bit more to stay upbeat, positive and resilient until you make the transition to your dream job.

Think of your degree as just a license. It doesn’t automatically provide you with any benefits, other than the fact that it and your work experience to date now qualify you to talk to people about that ideal job. It’s a bit like a commercial permit to go photograph big game. OK, you’ve got the license, but does that mean that bears and tigers will line up at your door?  Nope. You’ve got to go find that big game, and that’s the hard part.

One of my oldest friends and a pharma industry consultant, Dick Woodward, reminded me that there’s “a role for failure in success.” Don’t be afraid to get a no on an informational interviewing request—celebrate it! That’s because it usually only takes four invitations to sit down with you before someone will say yes.

Likewise, don’t feel rejected just because an interview didn’t result in a job offer. You’ve learned something about the interviewing process, and you’ve brought yourself closer to the next opportunity. Don’t take these failures personally. They are just building blocks in that numbers game that we call the science job search.