Top 5 reasons why you’re not getting the interview.

Does this situation sound familiar? You scour the internet day after day, applying for each and every job you’re remotely qualified to do, anxiously waiting for your phone to ring. Even that job you knew you were perfect for.

Surely, you’d get a call – I mean, you used to work in that exact industry, doing a nearly identical role. You’re a shoo-in!

But the sound of silence is all you get.

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No calls, no emails, no nothing.

Week after week you see jobs come and go and you start feeling hopeless that you’ll never find something.

You start to wonder what’s wrong with you. Or maybe there’s a conspiracy – all these recruiters are plotting against you to keep you from getting a job! Okay, I kid there. But not getting the call…any call…can really start to affect you.

You start doubting your self-worth. You go “on-tilt”. (that’s an old poker term for losing your cool). And it starts a vicious cycle where a hiring manager sees you as “desperate”. And ultimately less attractive.

If you’re in this situation, you’re not alone.

Many people struggle to get noticed, let alone a call for an interview. As a corporate recruiter, I’ve talked to 1000’s of candidates, seen countless resumes and know why one candidate gets the call while another struggles to get noticed.

Why one person is in demand, and another isn’t.

If you’re in the latter category (and most people are) you’re probably doing a few things wrong. The good news is that you can improve your chances at getting noticed for that big role.

When recruiting for a new role, I would to routinely get between 200-500 resumes per role. In some really well known companies, expect that number to eclipse 1000 resumes. This is in addition to any outreach I do myself.

Not only would I run ads for a job, but I’d also go out and SEARCH for candidates manually. I’d usually reach out to 25-50 candidates I’d find myself. In fact I would hire one of my “own” candidates 80% of the time.

Then add in employee referrals and agency submissions. So, when you are applying for a job, you’re up against some pretty stiff competition.

It is an absolute requirement to have a well optimized resume, keyword rich social media tools, and a carefully crafted employment message to be noticed.

Even if you have all of these things, you STILL may not be seen. Frustrating, huh?

When I’m recruiting a new job, my goal is to submit at least 5 highly-qualified candidates to submit to my hiring manager.

Once I find and interview the first group (no matter how I source them), I wait for the hiring manager to give feedback. If the hiring manager likes some of these candidates, we’ll run them through the full process to see if we get to offer. If not, I start recruiting again and find a 2nd group of candidates to submit.

I might be working on 15-25 roles at any given time. Therefore, I simply do not have enough hours in a day to look at every single candidate that comes across my desk.

So, even though you might be a great fit, I still might not have SEEN your resume. It boils down to doing everything you can to optimize your resume and a bit of luck.

2. You’re not a good fit

Maybe you’re just not a good fit for the role. When recruiters post a new job, we meet with the hiring manager to discuss core requirements, create the job posting and determine the “must haves”.

We then go about recruiting the role with those specific parameters in mind. Sometimes hiring managers are insistent on needing a specific industry background, a unique skill or ability. If it’s unreasonable, we’ll try to influence them on if those things are really needed.

But when we start recruiting the role, we know exactly what the candidate profile should look like.

When you apply for a job, we review your resume with that profile in mind. How do you stack up against it? If you’re not clearly a fit, you’ll need to get creative to get catch my eye, which lasts all of 5 seconds.

But if you’re simply not experienced in the right things, you’ll never get the call. For example, if I need an electrical engineer who’s built robotics and automated machines, and you are a civil engineer who’s designed utilities for a new apartment building, you’re not a fit for my role. If we hired you, you’d be way over your head and would ultimately fail at the job.

I’d suggest not wasting anyone’s time applying for roles you clearly do not qualify for.

3. You’re overqualified.

Nothing can be more frustrating than not getting a call on your resume, even roles you know you could easily do, and do well. And as you progress in your career, you start to lock yourself into a level of responsibility and/or compensation that paints you into a corner.

If you are too experienced for an entry level role you likely won’t be able to accept the lower salary. The problem is you need a paycheck and that medical insurance.

It’s especially difficult if you live in an area without a robust job market, or in an industry where there’s not a lot of positions to begin with. 

So what do you do?

This is how an employer looks at it. If they hire you for a role you’re clearly overqualified for, they won’t be able to put you through a normal career progression. You’ll also view it as a temporary job (until you find a better fit), and you’ll end up quitting when the next better job comes your way.

Employers spend 10k+ on each employee, so companies rightfully avoid the overqualified candidates. It costs too much to make a bad hire. That’s why it’s so important to carefully plan out your career, have a well formulated strategy and take steps to make sure you’re layoff-proof.

4. You’re underqualified

What about the opposite situation, the under qualified person? I see this one frequently, where a person has some of the skills I need, but just hasn’t been doing the role long enough.

Why is this important? A hiring manager who is filling an entry level role is mentally prepared to have to guide and nurture this person a bit more. Managers understand that they may have to spend time developing skill sets. And also expect to give more guidance on how to approach and complete projects.

Whereas a more senior level person is expected to come into the role knowing what to do with minimal training, direction and supervision. 

It’s a totally different type of hire.

Then you have the senior leader level. If you apply for a position that requires 10+ years of leadership of a large group, and you’ve only supervised a team of 3 in a small company, you’re likely going to be in over your head. It’s not to say you won’t eventually get there, but the jump is going to be too great.

And chances are the hiring manager just isn’t in a position to give you the development you need for you to be successful.

So it’s fine to hit a bit above your weight-class. We actually do often target people who are a step below the position we’re looking for. But if you’re 2 or more steps below the role you’re applying for, find a more appropriate progression.

You’ll get there eventually.

5. Your career is directionless

This one is a bit harder to quantify. If you’ve approached your career without a clear sense of purpose and strategy, you’re likely feeling a bit directionless. So you may be taking any job that comes your way, so long as it pays enough or meets other non-career-related criteria.

Well here’s the thing. By approaching your career with strategy, you’ll be better optimized to sell yourself. And as a result, more clearly able to demonstrate why you’re the idea fit for a role.

If you’ve not optimized your career, you’re going to have a much harder time justifying why you took certain jobs or what the ideal position for you even is.

You should be thinking of yourself as a free-agent, always looking out for how you can improve your “worth” to the open market. While the security of a steady paycheck is nice, being stuck in a dead end job only hurts you in the long run.

Look for positions that will help your career, even if it means taking a step backwards to switch industries or gain a new-found skill that you lacked before.

It will help you in the long run.

By carefully planning out where you want to be in your career, you’ll avoid having a disjointed resume that doesn’t make sense. And you’ll be able to sell yourself with momentum on your side.

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While it can be frustrating not getting any calls back on your resume, you can change this. Learn what you’re doing wrong and put together a plan of action to correct it and you’ll start seeing a difference.

Well optimized resumes, social media and a carefully crafted hiring plan will help pay dividends.  In particular, learning how to write a resume is critical to your job search success. That’s why I created Resume Rocketfuel, the only training of its type to not only teach you how to write your resume but also how to use your resume! If you’re struggling with how to write a resume, I suggest giving this training a close look.

Now that you know what you might be doing wrong, start getting the attention of hiring authorities.

If you’re struggling to get that interview, be sure to check out my free guide: 6 Ways To Get Noticed By Recruiters.

Till next time!

Bryan