Here’s a Monday morning shout out to job seekers and a list to help you understand some common reasons why your phone might not be ringing. It’s not an exhaustive list, just one to get you thinking. You want me to think of everything?
No response after submitting a resume or application:
- You are applying to jobs you’re not qualified for.
- Your resume or application has grammar errors that turned the recruiter off.
- You did not complete the application appropriately or shoved a resume in it and wrote “see resume” on it.
- Your resume was not targeted to the position you are applying for (you sent the same resume to apply for different types of jobs).
- It looks like a “to do” list and there’s no story –> You look like a robot.
- You have a shoddy job history with a couple of months here and there and employers are not willing to take a risk to train you and have you leave.
If you get calls and then do not get invited to interviews it could be because:
- You did not sound interested during the phone screen, were monotone and totally lacked enthusiasm.
- You had poor speaking skills or lack of correct grammar.
- You didn’t have much to say and the dead air was agonizing and the recruiter couldn’t bear the though of having to do it all over again in person.
- You said “I don’t know” a lot.
- You were pompous and or cocky or had some other poor attitude on the phone.
- You were negative about your past employers or about anything else.
- The Recruiter wanted to talk about your experience and skills and you wanted to talk about the money.
- It was 11:00am and your mom answered the phone and had to call you out of bed to take the call (I am not kidding).
You landed an interview but didn’t get a job offer or invitation to a second interview:
- You were late or rushing in the door just on time.
- You were dressed inappropriately and did not convey a professional image (either too casual, sloppy, wrinkled, thought you were going to a nightclub, etc).
- You lacked grooming and/or hygiene.
- You couldn’t maintain eye contact.
- You had no questions that showed true interest.
- You acted disinterested or distracted.
- You were not polite and/or courteous or lacked in some other social skill.
- You had weak answers (or none at all).
- You rambled on painfully when asked a question.
- You couldn’t stick to the topic of the question, lacked focus and when asked about “A” you ended up talking about “Z”.
- You acted inappropriately or weird.
- You performed poorly on the assessment testing.
- You conned the person who did the phone interview about your skills but couldn’t do it in person.
- You lied on your application or resume and the background check picked it up.
Now, go through the reasons I listed again and see if you can find an area in which you can improve upon. Self assessment isn’t easy but it is critical to your success.
Feel free to chime in and list other things that can be job search stoppers…
Feb 01, 2010 at 1:04 PM
Thanks Karla for a very timely post. I read your list TWICE.
I am sure there are areas for each of us to “improve”. I actually had the Mom answer the phone, and to get the employee out of bed happen to me in an agency setting. Total failure there. Not impressed.
Appreciate you being passionate about helping Jobseekers everywhere!
Shennee