1. You\u2019re not being thoughtful about where you apply<\/strong><\/p>\nIn their first-ever job search, most people take a “spray-and-pray” approach, which involves applying to just about every position that catches their eye. While many quickly learn that this isn\u2019t the best strategy, others never grow out of it \u2014 perhaps they lucked out with this tactic early on and mistakenly credited their success to it.<\/p>\n
But this game plan will burn you sooner rather than later, said Roy Cohen, career coach and author of The Wall Street Professional\u2019s Survival Guide.<\/p>\n
“Individuals in the job search often send out resumes indiscriminately. They have been programmed to believe that more is better,” Cohen said. “But if the fit is imperfect, no matter how many are sent, the resume will be ignored \u2014 and, despite the fact that it was wrong from the start, it still feels like a rejection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sure, you may be excited about a job, but that isn\u2019t reason enough to believe it\u2019s a good fit – especially if you don\u2019t have the relevant skills and experience needed to succeed.<\/p>\n
“If you don\u2019t meet at least the minimum qualifications of the role, your resume may be screened out of the pool\u2026 You don\u2019t necessarily have to meet every single listed qualification on the job description, but you do have to demonstrate that you are a good match for the role,” said Mary Grace Gardner, career strategist at The Young Professionista.<\/p>\n
The fix for this is easy: review job descriptions carefully and don\u2019t apply if you don\u2019t think you\u2019re quite there yet.<\/p>\n
On the flipside, you may not be the right fit for the role because you\u2019re overqualified. “If your experience far exceeds what the job requires, your resume may be pushed to the side because hiring managers may assume they can\u2019t afford to hire you,” Gardner said.<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s the case, you have two options: either “look for positions that require experience and skills either equal to or slightly above what you have,” or, if you\u2019re willing to accept a more junior role, “make sure to highlight only the relevant parts of your skills and experience for the specific job you are applying to,” Gardner said.<\/p>\n
\n2. Your resume needs an overhaul<\/strong><\/p>\nTo paraphrase Occam\u2019s razor, the simplest explanation is usually the best one. Sure, it\u2019s possible that your application slipped through the cracks or that the recruiter just can\u2019t recognize a good resume when they see it, but the odds of that happening over and over again are slim.<\/p>\n
When you constantly hear rejections, it\u2019s time to take a good look at the most important document in your job search: your resume.<\/p>\n
There are many reasons your resume may not be up to par. One of the most common reasons could be that you aren\u2019t using the right keywords.<\/p>\n
“Resumes are scanned nowadays for keywords and phrases to demonstrate fit. If a resume is generic in its content and tries to cover as many bases as possible, it will lack the precision that is essential to demonstrate both qualifications and passion,” Cohen said.<\/p>\n
In order to prove that you\u2019re a strong contender, “highlight key experiences you\u2019ve had that match the description of the role you\u2019re applying for and make sure to strategically use industry-specific keywords on your resume and cover letter,” Gardner added. Make sure to tailor this section for each position you apply to.<\/p>\n
Other resume mistakes you could be making: typos, failing to demonstrate the impact of your actions, burying the lede, exaggerating, unexplained resume gaps, etc. If you want to avoid errors like this, share your resume with others \u2014 especially any recruiters, HR professionals, resume writers or career coaches you feel comfortable reaching out to \u2014 and incorporate their feedback.<\/p>\n
\n3. You\u2019re not networking<\/strong><\/p>\nYou might have heard the phrase “it\u2019s not what you know, it\u2019s who you know” before. While that may be a bit of an exaggeration \u2014 skills and experience matter plenty \u2014 it is true that a referral can help you get your foot in the door.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s no secret that the resumes that float to the top of the pile are oftentimes the ones that have a warm connection in the form of a referral from a trusted colleague. For highly competitive roles, there may be thousands of applicants and dozens or even hundreds of people who sound just like you on an application,” Gardner said.<\/p>\n
“To stand out from the crowd, ask your network of family, friends and colleagues if they know anyone at the company you are applying to. If so, ask if they would be willing to refer you.”<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t worry, though \u2014 you\u2019re not totally out of luck if you don\u2019t already know somebody at the company.<\/p>\n
“Applying online is great, but you also need to follow this up with outreach to the hiring manager or other contacts within the company,” said career coach Angela Copeland.<\/p>\n
“Taking the time to do something extra will ensure you get noticed.”<\/p>\n
A more subtle, but nonetheless powerful, way to network your way into a job is to ask for an informational interview with someone at the company.<\/p>\n
“If the informational interview goes well, you can tactfully mention you\u2019ve submitted an application to the company and ask if they have any recommendations as you pursue the role\u2026 Having someone with clout vouch for you can dramatically increase your chances of hearing back from a recruiter,” Gardner said.<\/p>\n
Outside of these activities, “focus on building your LinkedIn network, or your social networking tool of choice. The goal is to establish key contacts at desirable companies,” Cohen said.<\/p>\n
“Embrace the company by reaching out to multiple points of contact and entry. That is how you will hear about openings and potential opportunities; some that may never reach the posting stage. Plus, these are the folks who will serve as your advocates; lots of companies actually offer incentives for introducing terrific candidates who eventually get hired.”<\/p>\n
\n4. The company dropped the ball<\/strong><\/p>\nAs mentioned before, receiving rejections over and over again is probably an indication that you\u2019re doing something wrong \u2014 but if it\u2019s just a select few companies you\u2019re not hearing back from, it\u2019s possible that there are things occurring behind the scenes that you\u2019re not privy to.<\/p>\n
“Companies may not fill every role in the way that we picture as job seekers. For example, they may have an internal candidate that\u2019s preselected” but post the position anyway, Copeland said. In cases like these, it might be \u201cstandard company policy to keep a position open for some specified period of time\u201d even if they already know they have a strong internal contender, Cohen said.<\/p>\n
Other times, “they may put a position on hold due to budgetary constraints or because the reporting structure has changed. Companies rarely communicate these details to the job seeker,” Copeland said. Still other times, they could just \u201cbe slow to process applications. They are filling many positions at one time, with many moving parts.”<\/p>\n
The most important part when you encounter roadblocks like these? “Don\u2019t give up hope,” Copeland said. If you\u2019ve verified that you\u2019re doing everything right, “keep applying and eventually, you will begin to receive responses.”<\/p>\n
\nRead: 6 of the best covering letter openers and why they work<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Glassdoor offers a few of the most common reasons you\u2019re not hearing back from recruiters and hiring managers, and what you can do to pivot to a winning strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":247083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[7186,26],"class_list":["post-247081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-glassdoor","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247081"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247381,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247081\/revisions\/247381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}