Why don’t I get a reply to my job applications?

As with almost every type of business, Computer technology
and the Internet has fundamentally changed recruitment. If
you thought your CV always gets read when you apply for a
position, think again. It is common for hundreds of CVs or
resumes to be received for a typical position advertised in
the Times or FT.

In the past these all had to be read individually, a very
time consuming and tedious task. Imagine if several hundred
turned up on your desk!

If your CV was received in the first days post for a new
job advertisement, there was a good chance it would get
read and that your details would be properly considered.
After this point, you are pretty much wasting your time.
Once the consultant gets bored, the chances are that your
CV will get a cursory glance at best.

The IT industry has developed a number of tools designed to
automate the processing of job applications and CVs. These
work in a variety of ways, but their basic aim is to
extract the information in the CV and convert it into a
form that can be searched. In order to search your covering
letter or CV, they both need to be in an electronic form.
Yes, you can scan documents and use Optical Character
Recognition, but this is a costly, time intensive and error
prone process.

Agencies much prefer an electronic application either with
your details sent via Email or entered into the
registration form on their web site. This allows them to
eliminate data entry or re-keying. Once they have your
details electronically, the fun starts. Some firms employ
researchers who do plough through each application, but
typically they will seek to reduce the size of the
application mountain.

Once your CV is received, it is then placed into an
electronic queue containing each application for this
position or it’s added to a giant database full of
candidates. All of the applications for a position are
rarely read by the recruitment consultant. When they are
ready to build a shortlist of applicants, they will perform
a search of their database looking for suitable candidates.
This search uses selected keywords to identify any CVs that
contain the terms they are looking for. Some will also use
other filters such as salaries.

For more senior positions, there is sometimes an assumption
that someone earning $100K should not be considered for a
position earning $150K simply because “If you were good
enough you would already be earning this sort of income”.
You probably are already doing an identical job, but your
company or industry simply pays less for those skills.
Ill-informed attitudes like this show that you have to play
the game

The problem lies in the choice of the words they search
for. Very often, their search will only bring back a small
number of candidates who have explicitly mentioned a
particular word. There may well be many other, better
qualified candidates, but these are not found as the search
did not match their details. For instance a search that
looks for “accountant” may miss applications who mentioned
FCA or any other accountancy qualification in their CV but
did not say they where an accountant.

During a conversation with a headhunter last week, they
complained that they often accidentally stumble across
great candidates who had been sitting in their databases
for months, but simply not turned up on a search. Their
details only appeared  when they were looking for another
unrelated role.

It may seem shocking, but this is the way that most of the
recruitment systems work. This often explains why you did
not even get considered for a position where you should
have been a very strong contender.

So just how do you make sure that your CV gets considered??

Key Point

Make sure that you really are a very close fit for the
position. When there are hundreds of applicants, only those
exactly matching the criteria will get considered. If you
are an 80% fit, then don’t waste your time. Make sure that
you are a 90-100% fit! If you are not selective, then the
chances are that you will get demoralised by lots of
rejections letters. You should always tailor each response
carefully to bring out your most relevant experience. If
you are targeting every position, then you are not giving
sufficient care and attention to your applications.

Once you have carefully picked the best positions that
match your skills, you need to think how the recruitment
consultant might try and locate CVs that are a good fit for
the role.

You need to carefully scrutinize the advert or job
description if available. Your covering letter and CV need
to replay as closely as possible the wording the agency
have used.  If they say “Outstanding senior accountant with
business development experience needed for a busy
practice”, then you should try to repeat this at the start
of your covering letter and in the summary of your CV. If
they then search for all CVs that contain senior accountant
and business development, there is a very high chance they
will look at your details.

As an example, don’t assume that because you mention that
you are an accountant or that you are registered with the
ICAEW, that the recruitment consultant will find you when
they search.  You should spell out that you are an
accountant and mention your qualification and professional
body within the document. You increase your odds of being
found enormously if you do.

Every CV you send out should be tailored for the position
to maximise your chances of success. It may take a little
more time, but it helps to make sure you are found. There
is nothing more demoralizing than not even getting a
response to an application.

For more senior roles, this gets even more involved. It is
more difficult to find top people just using keywords. For
instance, the agency may have 500 partners on its books,
but how do you find one who is “dynamic, go-ahead and will
grow my business”?? The consultant will still use their
search tools, but they now have to look for words that
describe the ideal candidate. You really have to understand
exactly what they are looking for to “tune” your CV
appropriately. If your skills aren’t a strong fit, then you
are wasting your time applying and need to find a more
suitable position.

Another trick that can bypass the search issue, is to ring
the agency up and talk to the person who is looking after
that position. Tell them you are interested in the job and
ask them if they can tell you more. Very often you will get
extra clues that help you to target your skills and
experience effectively. The other benefit is that if you
can whet the appetite of the consultant, they may well be
looking our for your CV when it arrives. This totally
improves the odds in your favour.

Action Summary

1. Select only completely relevant positions
2. Precise the advert and write down the key requirements.
3. Make a note of the words that they use
4. Save a new copy of your CV and tailor this specifically
for this position bringing out your  best and most relevant
experience.
5. Use the same words as they do, particularly mentioning
any keywords
6. Do the same for the covering letter

In each document, place the keywords at the end using white
text on a white background to make this invisible. The
search engines will still see this, but the reader won’t.

When you send the documents to the agency, wait a day and
then contact the consultant handling the position. Explain
your interest, why you are a close fit and ask for their
feedback. At the least, it should ensure that they do read
your CV.

If there is a big difference in your current salary to that
in the position, don’t provide details of your salary even
if it is asked for. If the agency likes your CV and then
rings you back, then they are potentially interested.

Always let them buy into you first! Very often you can get
the right salary, once you have convinced them that you are
the right candidate.

At least 80% of applications are nowhere near the mark and
will get instantly rejected! Don’t waste your time applying
unless you really are a very good fit!

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Steve Butler is the CEO of GetMoreJobOffers.com, a company
dedicated to helping job seekers get their next job. This
is an affordable service is built upon a proven approach
used to coach & mentor top executives to win the best and
highest paid jobs.
http://www.getmorejoboffers.com
http://www.jobhuntworld.com