13 May 5 Reasons you are not getting Interviews

The biggest complaint that we receive from Job Seekers is “I keep sending my CV and I never get short listed!”  Some job seekers keep quiet about their frustration, never email us, or ask for feedback.  For those proactive and positive job seekers that do email us and ask for feedback on how to improve their application, this is what we tell them.

Firstly, please believe us- if you are the best person for the job, then we want to interview you, send you to our client and get you the job!  This is our business, and we have nothing to gain my turning the best person for the job away!  Often the reason that you are not being short listed is a simple one… and the most common mistake is life… communication.  And you communicate with us, when applying for jobs, through your CV.

Here are the top five mistakes made when applying for jobs, which will prevent you from being interviewed:-

1. Is your CV up to date?     It’s all about attention to detail.  If my client wants someone immediately, and your CV says you are still employed… how am I to know that you actually left that company last month?  If my client needs someone who has their driver’s licence, and you got yours last month, but you have not updated your CV, how am I to know?  The same goes for the area’s that you live in.  If you are going to take the time and effort to apply for jobs, take a few extra minutes and have a look at your CV and make sure nothing has changed!

2. “If it’s not on your CV, you never did it.” CV’s should be concise and to the point, with facts listed in point form.  This does not mean that they have to be one page or two page- that was the requirement in the days that you faxed your CV.  If I need someone with buying experience, and I look at your CV, and nowhere on it does it mention this experience, how am I to know you have the experience?  (It is especially important to make sure that your CV is put on search engines like PNet, Careers24 and CareerJunction in details, because when recruiters use these portals they use “keywords” that will only pick up those CV’s that have been put on in detail.)

3. The last point about your CV when applying for jobs, is that it is the most important tool that you have in your job search. It’s your sales brochure selling you for the job.  If you cannot take the time to make sure that it is neatly saved as a PDF or MS Word Document, and the best that you can to is a fuzzy fax machine- scanned document or photos saved each as an individual page, sometimes at too low a resolution to read, then you have to accept that this is the first impression of your work ethic that you are making.

4. “Take a chance, but don’t be a chancer.” What’s the difference?  Taking a chance is good.  You never know what will happen until you do!  It’s about applying for a job that you meet MOST of the requirements for, or that you may be just a little too junior for.  Being a “chancer” is bad- it’s the person who just sends their CV off regardless.  In one email they will apply to be the financial director, the receptionist and the boilermaker… and then get upset because they never get short listed.  I know that you can learn, if just given a chance, but would you go to a dentist that would like to “learn” on your sore tooth?  Or take your cell phone to some who know nothing about cell phones, but will try their hardest to fix it?  If this is your approach to job seeking, that’s great!  But then be sure to keep perspective and not get upset when you have applied for so many jobs, and not been successful.

5. Finally, fill out the application forms. There is a reason that the company is asking this information…. Even if you are tired of giving it.

These are the most common reasons, but there are lost more too- like emailing the wrong address, not stating that you are actually applying for a specific job or simply not being professional and using “SMS text” to write your covering letter.  Have a look at the newsletters on our website www.2r.co.za for more hints and tips on how to prepare your CV, how to write a covering letter and even a template CV.