With the end of the year in sight, we would like to share a few key things to think about over the coming weeks that might be inferring things about you to potential employers and preventing you from achieving your dream job.

You are unemployed or looking for a new job. Your life revolves around applying for jobs every day – day in and day out. No one gets back to you, and if they do, it is, unfortunately, always a no.

You do want to know the result either way. However, the employers are busy with work commitments, and sometimes it can take weeks to get a reply. It’s incredibly frustrating not to know what is going on.

Christmas is coming, and it’s probably only going to slow down with regards to receiving a response until January, meanwhile, you’re still out of work.

What do you do? Why is it a no? What is wrong with my application? What is wrong with me?

As a recruiter, I am starting to keep some hard stats on the reasons why I and my clients say no to candidates and their applications.

There are analytics in development; however, some of the anecdotal experiences I have from hiring for my current clients are included below.

If you review all my previous musings, most of them also have some indication of what not to do as well as what to do in your job search.

With Christmas not too far away, I would like to highlight a few key things to think about over the coming weeks as to why you may not be achieving your dream job:

Your CV needs to be set out better.

It shows a lack of attention to detail and no accurate indication of what you can do.

This infers to me that if you lack attention to detail in your CV, then this could be what your attention to detail will be like working for me.

Your soft skills are written like this:

“I am a hardworking, passionate and motivated individual who works hard in a busy environment and as part of a team. I work well under pressure, and I am well organised.”

Everyone tells me this, so why are you different? Please see my previous musing on this: Why Not Me?

This infers that you can’t articulate your key capabilities in your CV to differentiate yourself. So, could you do it on the job? And are you any better than the next candidate?

You have not included a cover letter when asked, yet the other 40 candidates have.

Please see my previous musing To cover or not to cover.

What do I think if I asked for a cover letter and you have not sent one? I have to think: Have you actually read the position description? And, have you done what I have asked? No.

If you have not done what I have asked, you might not do what an employer requests when asked. There is some concern about your ability to take direction or do as requested.

Do you really want this role? Or have you just sent an application in hopes you might get something?

The quote below is from a recent candidate to whom we kept sending a “no”. The candidate has applied to multiple roles that they are not suitable for:

“I intend to continue sending out my resumes, as a big part of winning for me in my search is big lead numbers.”

This infers a lack of focus as they have not read the position description or addressed the key criteria. I have to ask, does this candidate really want the role, and would they lack focus in the work they would be required to do for my client? This also infers overconfidence in their abilities and a lack of understanding of their skill set for the role.

Are you too confident?

A recent candidate indicated that because they had been a medical doctor in a particular field, every other role in the medical area was, and I quote, “peanuts.”

This insulted those who had undertaken years of physiotherapy, specialist medical information, regulatory training, etc. It inferred to me an innate arrogance. It was a definite no to this applicant.

This is something not to do if you have an interview booked with a company.

Instead of going through the hiring manager or HR manager who has organised the interview, you decide it’s okay to try to connect with everyone in the company via LinkedIn. Or connect by any other means to say how good you are and try and convince them that you would be great for the company.

This infers a lack of understanding of social norms in the hiring process.

Naivety is ok; intention is another. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS! I had this happen recently. Luckily, the client decided to interview them still. The candidate did not get the role though.

These points are real examples. I hope it does not ring a bell for you, and if it does, think about seeking some advice on your job search strategy.

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and best wishes for the new year from myself and the team at mexec careers.