Why nobody replies to my application?!?!

If you ever asked yourself this question maybe at the end of this article you will have the answer. When after a month of constantly sending applications you receive no feedback at all, it might be a good idea to review your CV and letter of intent. Answering the following questions could be a good starting point.

This exercise will work only if you are honest to yourself. In some cases it might be necessary to ask the opinion of one or two friends.

1. Did you write your phone number and email on the CV? If yes, are you sure they are correct?

2. Read again your email address? Is it anything else than a combination of your first and last name? Maybe the email address you created when you were 14?!?

3. Take a look at the picture on your CV. Is it really a CV picture?

4. Go through your experience. Did you write perhaps the whole job description for each position? If yes, it would be a good idea to keep only the most important 4-5 responsibilities.

5. How many pages has your Resume? No matter how rich is your work experience the CV shouldn't have more than three pages. Otherwise it will only make recruiters take a deep breath and move on to the next candidate.

6. Did you read the job ad before applying? Do you really think that your experience, studies and qualifications match the job profile?

7. Are you sure that your CV has no grammar and spelling mistakes? If yes, ask a friend to read it carefully for you. You might have some surprises.

8. Did you write your work experience and studies in chronological order? Did you start with the most recent activity?

9. Look at the dates on your CV? Are there any unexplained gaps in employment? If yes, this might raise lots of questions for the recruiters who will rather focus their attention on other candidates with complete Resumes than call you to clarify the gaps.

10. Read again the cover letter. Is it addressed to the right person? If yes, go further and read it as if you are the employer. Did you perhaps get bored in the middle? Is it really saying why you are right for the position?

Even if you have the feeling that your CV is great, it is always a good idea to ask for a second opinion. Ideally it would be great to have a professional opinion however you don’t have this opportunity, even a friend who has nothing to do with recruitment, might give you feedback that could help improving your CV. 

Random applications – do they work?

         The purpose of job ads is to attract candidates who have certain skills, experience and education. They describe the ideal candidate and because most of the times the companies can’t find such a candidate they make some compromises and interview also the candidates that meet the critical requirements. However, generally the candidates are taken into consideration for a certain position if they meet at least 80% of the requirements.

Regardless of the job requirements, position, company and country I would say, the mailboxes of the recruiters are constantly invaded by random applications.

          The random candidates are those people who apply to every single job ad that they see. People that apply for Sales Manager positions but they have never sold anything in their life, people that apply for technical positions even if they have no experience or studies in that field and so on. For some, the only criteria are regarding the region in which they live. However, most of them consider no criteria.

So there will be no misunderstanding, when I say random applications I don’t mean spontaneous applications. For me, the spontaneous applications are happening when a candidate sends his application expressing his interest in a position that is not open at that moment. This kind of applications is recommended by all HR specialists because this way the candidate shows his initiative and interest in a certain company. 

        If it would be to find an explanation for the behavior of the random applicants, I would say that probably these people think that someone will see their CV, discover the well hidden potential behind their irrational application and call them to offer the job of their life. Some might even think that the recruiters will save their CV and when there will be a position corresponding to their experience they will call them right away. 

WRONG! Recruiters never save random applications. They are annoyed by such candidates that they need to go through in order to find the ones that really match the job profile. This is a waste of time for everyone. I haven’t met yet a person that obtained a job through random applications.

       Just a bit of responsibility when applying for a job would make a great difference for both candidates and recruiters.  According to Holmes and Rahe stress scale, losing a job is one of the 10 most stressful situations in life. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_and_Rahe_stress_scale) Maybe this explains why some people act so irrational when looking for a job.