3 min. read
Michał applied for a leadership role at OLX. He didn’t get it. Here’s why that rejection turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to his career.
When Michał joined OLX in April 2018, he started in Customer Service for Otodom. The work was good. The team was solid. But after about three years, he started thinking: what’s next?
So he did what many people do. He looked around internally. He found a leadership role that seemed like the logical next step. He applied.
He didn’t get it.
That’s the moment when many people give up. Or start quietly looking externally. Or convince themselves they’re not valued.
Michał did something different.
That could’ve been the moment I gave up or started looking externally. But I’m a pretty proactive person. I play in a band, I study Norwegian for fun. So I thought: if I want something different, I need to do something different.
I signed up for a course to become a tester. Not because I had a role lined up — just because it seemed like a skill worth having.
Then the opportunity showed up. A new tech team was being created in Poland. I applied, and in 2021, I became a Junior Tester.
Everything was different.
In Customer Service, the work was reactive — you solve problems as they come in. In testing, you work in sprints, with developers, with completely different tools and processes. I had to learn a whole new rhythm.
I also became the owner of my own time, which sounds great — but it meant I had to get way more assertive about priorities and deadlines. That was a learning curve.
And honestly? The amount of documentation surprised me. I wasn’t expecting that. But it’s part of the job, and you adapt.
I get to work with different people and teams on different projects. It keeps things fresh. Every project brings new challenges, new collaborators, new problems to solve.
It’s the variety that keeps me engaged. I don’t think I’d get that if I’d stayed in one function.
Looking back, Michał sees the rejection for the leadership role differently now.
“If I’d gotten that role, I probably would’ve stayed in Customer Service, just in a management position,” he reflects. “I wouldn’t have learned testing. I wouldn’t be working with different teams and projects every few months. I wouldn’t have the variety I have now.”
The rejection forced him to look sideways instead of just up. And that changed everything.
Today, he’s building technical skills, collaborating across the business, and solving problems he never would have touched in Customer Service — leadership role or not.
“It worked out,” he says simply. “But only because I kept going.”
But maybe more importantly, it looks like this:
Finding a problem that matters. Owning it. Building the solution. And proving it works.
Not because someone handed him the role. But because he saw the gap and stepped into it.
Michał’s story matters because rejection is one of the biggest barriers to internal mobility.
People apply for a role. Don’t get it. And convince themselves it’s a sign they should stop trying. But here’s what Michał proved: not getting the first role doesn’t mean you’re not valued. Rejection can redirect you to something better. Self-investment matters more than waiting for permission. And the next opportunity appears when you’re ready — not before.
Internal mobility isn’t about never failing. It’s about what you do after you don’t get what you wanted.
Michał didn’t get the leadership role. But he got something better: a completely new skill set, constant variety, and proof that investing in yourself pays off. All because he didn’t stop at “no.”
If you’ve been rejected before, or if you’re worried about trying because you might not get it — read Michał’s story again.
