You Apply to Many Jobs and Don’t Hear Back from Employers - This is WHY


If you are engaged in a job search and sending out numerous resumes and applications without hearing anything back from the employer, you are not alone.  I have surveyed numerous employers and job seekers over the last year on why this is happening.  I want to share this with you because if you really understand these reasons, you might be able to make some changes in your job search to get more responses to your applications: especially that one job that you really want.


Employers really do want to hire you.  I am an employer and currently interviewing for an account strategist to assist our account managers.  This position assists our sales team to make sure we are doing everything we can to make sure our clients get the results (hires) they need. 


I am amazed by the amount of resumes I received that I'm sure the job seeker never read the job description.


How do I know this?  Because the backgrounds of eighty percent (yes, 80%) these resumes have absolutely no “connection” to the account strategist opening.  As an employer, this is frustrating.  In my survey of over 80 employers, this was the number one reason (Read report here-page 8).  As a job seeker, this is also frustrating because you read the job description and in many cases, think you can do the job even though you may not have the direct experience being requested.  Rather than missing out on an opportunity, you apply.  This could be the biggest mistake you will make in your job search.


Employers don’t have the time to decipher your resume to match their job (with larger companies it is robots not humans trying to figure out what you do).  You see where this is going? 


Many job seekers don’t get the job they are qualified for because their resume or application is a mess!


To understand this even further, think about some of the really bad job descriptions you have sifted through and after reading them had no idea exactly what the company was trying to hire.  If you think the job may be a fit, most people still apply.  However, employers will not give you the same courtesy; not because they don’t want to but they don’t have the time to dissect your resume and they most likely have other resumes (applications) that are close matches.


If you want to hear back from more employers after applying, here is what you have to do:

  1. Apply to only jobs that you are clearly qualified to do. 
    This sounds like what you are doing, but in reality, you most likely are not.  It takes a lot of time to find great job matches because you really have to use many resources to discover jobs.  Apply to only those jobs that you know you can do and have resume prove it.  Today’s resume really can be written so whoever is reading it know immediately what you do (read this resume article).
     
  2. Sometimes you will find an incomplete job description at a great company.
    Before applying, do some research in LinkedIn and Glassdoor to see if you can find that job or a current or former person who had that job.  A lot of times, you will see what the job entails to gain the appropriate keywords that will enhance your resume (if you actually do them).
     
  3. Your resume needs to be extremely clear.
    If it is a job that you know for sure you can do and your resume is extremely clear, well written and proves you can do the job, apply but don’t sit back and wait.  Remember the account strategist position I am looking for?  I think we are a great company with a lot of benefits (company cruises, healthcare, 3 weeks PTO, ½ price sushi).  If you wanted to work here and applied to one of our jobs, why wouldn’t you call us, LinkedIn message our sales manager, contact us through Twitter, Facebook us or email us?  NO ONE does this.
     

All this information is public by going to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter by searching for OrlandoJobs.com.   Let us know you applied and we will certainly TAKE A LOOK at you.  Doesn’t mean you will get the job, but it will put you on top of the resume stack.  Since most of the companies are 50 employees and less, this strategy works extremely well.  With larger companies, it can be more complicated to find who to connect to but not impossible.  Most of the time, you can use LinkedIn for this and try to find who might be the hiring manager or the talent acquisition/human resource manager at that company.  Send them an InMail or even just a connection request and you may be surprised with the response.  One word of warning; make sure your LinkedIn profile matches your resume.  If you use this method, your LinkedIn profile is now your resume so all resume rules will apply!

 

 

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