Why You Are Not Able to Get a Job
By: Sana Uqaili
Tags: Careers, Job Search, Career Advice, Jobs, Job Hunting

Photo by Yanalya on Freepik

If you’ve been looking for a job for a little while now, you’ve probably already sent dozens, or maybe even hundreds, of job applications to employers. You might be feeling pretty frustrated if you haven’t really been getting many responses. Well, you’re in luck because in this article, I’m going to walk you through the four reasons why employers aren’t calling you back, and exactly what you can do about it.

You’re not showing that you’re a true fit for the job

This is the biggest reason why employers are ignoring. You have probably not done the work of showcasing to them that you are the perfect job candidate. If you don’t do the work of showing to them that you’re a match for them, how can you possibly expect them to give you a call?

To break it down, there are actually three key areas where you potentially may not be showing that you’re a fit for the job. The first one is your resume or CV. Is your resume lacking a clear strategy? When you look at your own resume, do you feel that an employer who sees it would be like, ‘Oh my goodness, this person is the exact perfect fit for the job’? Or do you think they see it and go like, ‘Yeah maybe, not sure.. let’s see what else is out there.’ If you feel that there is room for improvement in your resume or CV, then you are most likely right.

Your resume is the ticket that will get you into the door. If you don’t know how to write your resume in an attractive and compelling way, your resume will simply be thrown to the side. You see, employers get hundreds of resumes all the time. You really need to make sure that your resume stands out from the rest.

The second place where you might not be showing that you are an attractive, high-quality candidate to the employer is in your LinkedIn profile. I know this may sound silly, but when was the last time you actually updated your photo on LinkedIn to not only be one that’s recent, but also one where it shows that you have a bright, energetic and cheerful personality? Your photo on your LinkedIn profile will either help to increase or decrease your chances of getting that initial phone call.

The third place where you’re likely not showcasing your value enough is in your interviews. If you have gotten called for a couple of interviews here and there, but you never got a call back to move forward to the next round, then there’s only one major reason for that. The reason is you’re not telling compelling enough stories in your interviews to the employers. Knowing how to tell compelling stories in your interviews is the key strategy to hooking the employer’s interest in you and getting them to choose you over anyone else. If you want them to give you the job, be sure to tell compelling stories.

Your job applications are not even being seen in the first place

If the only way that you’re applying for jobs is through online job applications, along with hundreds of other people who are also applying through the same job portals, there’s a good chance that employers aren’t even seeing your resume or application. If they can’t see you, they’re definitely not going to be able to hire you. So what do you do?

Firstly, you want to apply to only the freshest jobs — those that have only showed up within the first or second day. If you’re waiting to apply for a job and it’s been posted for a week or two, there’s a good chance that you’ve likely missed the boat. Apply for the jobs that show up right away. Strike them when they’re hot. Employers are likely to look at the actual applications that show up within the first one or two days. You have a higher chance of having your resume being seen by the employer if you apply straight away when a job is posted. Another way to get your job application be seen is to reach out to the employer directly.

You don’t believe that you’ll be able to get the job

No matter how much you want a job, if somewhere inside you’ve lost confidence in yourself and don’t believe that you’ll get the job that you want, then you probably really won’t be able to get it. The lack of belief that you have within yourself is actually what’s causing employers to also have that lack of belief in you.

Be extremely mindful of the thoughts that you’re telling yourself, and how they’re making you feel. If you want employers to change their mind about you and to see you differently, you need to see yourself differently. It all starts with you and ends with you. You need to change the way you feel about yourself. You need to see the value that you can offer to organizations, and then from there you’ll be able to express that in the interviews. That self belief is going to increase the chances of you getting your dream job offer.

You don’t have a hint of the relevant technical skills or qualifications

You need to have relevant skills, experiences and knowledge that can easily translate to the job that you want to get into. That doesn’t mean that you have to have done the exact job before, but if you have transferable skills, experiences and knowledge, those are going to help you increase your chances of getting the job offer. So if you have the required skills, you need to highlight them on your job applications and interviews.

Go after the positions that you really want to get, but also make sure that they align with the skill sets that you currently possess.