Marilyn Albert
Have you ever applied for the “perfect job” only never to hear back from the company? You think what went wrong, or even worse, “What was wrong with me?” After another tough year in the job market, it’s time to let go of all things you had absolutely no control over. Yes, there are things that you have no control over in the job search process. Today, we’re going to talk about five things where things could go wrong and how to fix them.
In the last month, I have talked with dozens of employers including those attending the Wisconsin Association of Colleges and Employers conference held in Madison last week. With all the new information out there, I found a hidden “glitch” which is creating polarizing effect in the way job applications are processed.
On one end, the news is good: there are jobs out there and once again the Great Lakes region came out on top with an increase of 16% in recruitment of new employees (Recruiting Trends 2010—2011 survey published by Career Services and the Collegiate Employment Research Institute and copyrighted, © 2011-2012, by Michigan State University). On the other end, the screening process has become so precise that qualified candidates who are perfect for the job can get overlooked. So, STOP right now. Stop blaming yourself for a failed job search.
Recruiters are telling me these are the top five reasons applicants get eliminated and for which they have little or no control over. I added how to FIX them.
1. Dated information: New technologies in screening applications have developed over the past year and recruiters can easily read and eliminate applications based on key words. Written materials about the job search are already obsolete. Example: Calling to follow-up on an application submission is considered annoying.
Fix: If you call, make sure you have new information to add to your application. Don’t insist on talking to a hiring manager. All recruiters are looking at the same software management system so anyone can see your file.
2. Competition: The ratio of applicants per job is 500/1. As sad as that sounds, the new screening software helps recruiters to find top candidates. Also, keep in mind people are competing against a fixed candidate pool for each job they apply for.
Fix: Keep applying for jobs with the same company-it’s okay to have multiple applications.
3. Electronic Transmittal: There are all sorts of things that can go wrong when emailing or uploading a resume and cover letter. Weird page breaks can occur, edit notations can suddenly appear, formatting is changed. Be careful to change the job titles and company names on your cover letter.
Fix: Save your document as a PDF and following the application instructions. Double check job titles & company names.
4. Inside Candidates: Companies can post jobs internally first, then externally. Internal candidates have first chance at postings. If they don’t find a qualified candidate in the internal posting then they will look at the external candidates. It’s not always obvious when this is happening.
Fix: Read hiring guideline sections of HR webpages in addition to the job search section.
5. “Match”: One of the biggest mistakes I see are people who apply for jobs that are NOT a good match. They may be close, but with so many applicants per job an employer can find a pool of candidates that are a perfect match.
Fix: If you don’t feel certain about the job, then look for something else. Find the job where you hit all the keywords. You can be precise, too.
Therefore, my best holiday advice to all the job searchers out there: stop blaming yourself for things you have no control over.
Have you ever applied for the “perfect job” only never to hear back from the company? You think what went wrong, or even worse, “What was wrong with me?” After another tough year in the job market, it’s time to let go of all things you had absolutely no control over. Yes, there are things that you have no control over in the job search process. Today, we’re going to talk about five things where things could go wrong and how to fix them.
In the last month, I have talked with dozens of employers including those attending the Wisconsin Association of Colleges and Employers conference held in Madison last week. With all the new information out there, I found a hidden “glitch” which is creating polarizing effect in the way job applications are processed.
On one end, the news is good: there are jobs out there and once again the Great Lakes region came out on top with an increase of 16% in recruitment of new employees (Recruiting Trends 2010—2011 survey published by Career Services and the Collegiate Employment Research Institute and copyrighted, © 2011-2012, by Michigan State University). On the other end, the screening process has become so precise that qualified candidates who are perfect for the job can get overlooked. So, STOP right now. Stop blaming yourself for a failed job search.
Recruiters are telling me these are the top five reasons applicants get eliminated and for which they have little or no control over. I added how to FIX them.
1. Dated information: New technologies in screening applications have developed over the past year and recruiters can easily read and eliminate applications based on key words. Written materials about the job search are already obsolete. Example: Calling to follow-up on an application submission is considered annoying.
Fix: If you call, make sure you have new information to add to your application. Don’t insist on talking to a hiring manager. All recruiters are looking at the same software management system so anyone can see your file.
2. Competition: The ratio of applicants per job is 500/1. As sad as that sounds, the new screening software helps recruiters to find top candidates. Also, keep in mind people are competing against a fixed candidate pool for each job they apply for.
Fix: Keep applying for jobs with the same company-it’s okay to have multiple applications.
3. Electronic Transmittal: There are all sorts of things that can go wrong when emailing or uploading a resume and cover letter. Weird page breaks can occur, edit notations can suddenly appear, formatting is changed. Be careful to change the job titles and company names on your cover letter.
Fix: Save your document as a PDF and following the application instructions. Double check job titles & company names.
4. Inside Candidates: Companies can post jobs internally first, then externally. Internal candidates have first chance at postings. If they don’t find a qualified candidate in the internal posting then they will look at the external candidates. It’s not always obvious when this is happening.
Fix: Read hiring guideline sections of HR webpages in addition to the job search section.
5. “Match”: One of the biggest mistakes I see are people who apply for jobs that are NOT a good match. They may be close, but with so many applicants per job an employer can find a pool of candidates that are a perfect match.
Fix: If you don’t feel certain about the job, then look for something else. Find the job where you hit all the keywords. You can be precise, too.
Therefore, my best holiday advice to all the job searchers out there: stop blaming yourself for things you have no control over.
