Sending Applications And Not Getting Invited For Interviews: What To Do
If you are sending job applications and you're not receiving interview invitations, there are several reasons that happens. It may not be because you're not qualified at all.
Quick Glance
The causes of not getting invited for interview beside being under-qualified:
- Neglect to Use A Resume Tailored To Specific Job Application
- Use of bulky resume
- Using a Resume that states job responsibilities instead of your Achievements.
- Applying only to Roles that don't fit your background
- Too much reliance on job boards and websites
- Not Sending enough applications
- Use of Career objective section Instead of a Career Summary section that highlights your Key Achievements
Let's briefly consider the above points below
1. Neglect to Use A Resume Tailored To Specific Job Application
Any single vacancy in any company attracts several applications from so many individuals who are interested in that position.
A way to stand out is to tailor your resume to the specific job you're applying for. Why is that important?
When recruiters review a resume, they are really looking for proof that the candidate that has that resume is the ideal person for the job.
So they try to compare the information in the resume with the criteria specified for that vacant position.
What happens if a resume contains non relevant information? What happens if a resume contains relevant information that are overshadowed by non relevant information? The answers are not cool.
A recruiter that has countless applications to review may dump a candidate, without further consideration, if the recruiter doesn't find the candidate's resume interesting for any reason that may include adding of non relevant information and inability to see clearly the qualities of the candidate that match with the requirements for the job the recruiter is hiring for.
It's for this reason that you need to tailor your resume to the specific job you're applying for, so as to present relevant qualities so well that they are easy to see. Then you ensure to exclude non relevant information too.
2. Use of Bulky Resume
A bulky resume has the unintended disadvantage of putting recruiters off from reading through every details contained in it. most times, such resumes are skipped entirely.
The alternative to a bulky resume is to make your resume to be one page or not more than two pages, making sure to include hard achievements, not just loose statements.
Make your resume to be one or two pages long and make sure to state your career achievements throughout the resume. A loose statement won't do a great job.
Consider the examples below:
1. Highly skilled in interpersonal relationship management
2. Have led a team of 5 field sales persons to achieve 187% increase in sales revenue consistently for six months.
Notice that 1 and 2 above are essentially talking about the same thing-- interpersonal relationship management or team management.
But you must have already figured out which of them commands more trust.
3. Using a Resume that states job responsibilities instead of your Achievements.
Stating job responsibilities in your resume is not cool. Nobody needs it. And should anyone want to know, Google will easily do the job.
Recruiters are more interested in knowing what you've done-- what you achieved in that posts you've held.
Sometimes, It takes very little initiative to convert job responsibilities to achievements.
For instance, if your current post involve managing payroll, then Instead of adding "Payroll management" in your resume, convert it to an achievement by stating it this way--- " Managed payroll"
In that way, you make it clear that you do that, that you have done that, and that you know how to do that.
Do you notice how easy it can be to make three strong points with just one statement-- Managed payroll?
4. Applying only to Roles that don't fit your background
You don't need to apply to only jobs you're 100% qualified for. But you don't also need to be applying only to roles that you're too under qualified for.
If you meet 13/20 of the requirements of a job, you need to apply for it. That's like 65%.
If you don't meet up-to 65% of the requirements, applying is just a way of wasting everyone's time.
5. Too Much Reliance on Job Boards and Websites
Most job vacancies are filled through referral, recommendation or introduction.
The vacancies that are published online usually attract so much applications, making the competition to be so high. As a result, the chances of not getting called for interview are high too, especially, if there are reasons your resume couldn't attract the interest of the recruiter to push forward with your application.
The way forward is to diversify your job hunting by using multiple channels-- your network, job boards, company websites, social media, cold calling, etc.
6. Not Sending Enough Applications
When you're actively hunting for a job, you need to make sure that you send applications every day.
It must have become clear from points made above, why doing that is important. Even when you have a great resume, the competition for a particular role may be so much that some applications are skipped. Especially when the number of potentially qualified candidates are reasonably large.
Decide on and write down the type of job you want. That's, the posts that you're open to accepting and the industry. it's OK to include specific companies. Use that as a guardrail in your daily job hunting efforts.
7. Use of Career objective section Instead of a Career Summary
Highlighting your Key Achievements at the top of your resume does the good job of engaging the interest of a recruiter. Wanting to know more is the reward it fetches.
It becomes a problem when such important highlights are missing. The recruiter may have to read through the entire resume to discover the special things about you, that make you the suitable candidate for the job.
Some times, they don't do that. They just scan a resume for key information. If that's not found, they skip that application.
Include a professional summary section at the top of your resume instead of adding career objective.
After all, your objective is clear enough-- to get the job you applied for. The recruiter knows that, that's your goal.
Adding a special section where you say the same thing doesn't make it special.
So, save that space and use it instead for something that's really more important to you-- a summary of your key professional achievements, as a way to attract attention, making the recruiter to want to know more.
Here's an example of a short Professional Summary:
"A professional Investment Banker and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria(ICAN) and Chartered Institute of
Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), with over 4 years of
experience in risk management, transaction banking, financial management, audit, accounting and product development.
I have effectively managed and Improved posting and reconciliation of transactions, making reports to be available before they were requested for;
worked with a team of 4 to develop and implement a plan of action, in line with
the team’s goals, which resulted in the achievement of above 200% of the team's
budget within a year. And have worked
with a Group’s Auditor and a Head of operations, in digitizing accounting processes."
What is your own professional summary?
Note that a professional summary, as the name says, is a summary of the great professional facts about you.
Make it about your important qualities and achievements that are relevant to the job you're applying for.
Quick Review
The causes of not getting invited for interview factor are
- Neglect to Use A Resume Tailored To Specific Job Application
- Use of Bulky resume
- Using a Resume that states job responsibilities instead of your Achievements.
- Applying only to Roles that don't fit your background
- Too much reliance on job boards and Websites
- Not Sending enough application
- Use of Career objective section Instead of a Career Summary section highlighting your Key Achievements
To change the narrative, there's need to apply for jobs using tailored resume and to present very clearly, the information about you that are relevant to the post you're applying for, in such a way that the recruiter discovers your unique personality and achievements, easily.
Doing that may be all that is needed to get an interview invitation for a job that has very high number of applicants.
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