Possible Reasons You Are Not Getting Hired And How To Fix It

If you’re struggling to find a job, or seem to keep falling at the same hurdle in your job application process, all is not lost - it may be that your search and approach needs a little tweak to stay ahead of the fast-paced recruitment market!

While some of the issues may be attitudinal (and that takes a bit of self-awareness to understand your motives behind your job search), most errors in applications tend to be procedural - things like missed details on resumes, poor sense-checking or errors in applications. 

But there are also more proactive things you can do too, to make sure you’re more visible than your competition, and more attractive as a proposition for employers. 

Here are a few easy things you can do to make your job search less stressful and more successful!

Have you checked (and double-checked) your resume?

Your resume isn’t the be-all and end-all of your job application. However, it very much sets a tone to the relationship, and having an error-strewn, gaff-heavy document full of mistakes does not set a good precedent. 

As per the Muse, creating a resume checklist is imperative to make sure simple mistakes don’t fall through the cracks:

Contact Information: have you got the basics - like your email address or phone number - right? Simple, but if you get it wrong you’re in the dark.

Verb tense: have you changed your tenses on your resume to reflect past jobs? IE changing sentences that start with “I am responsible for…” to “I was responsible for…”

Spelling and punctuation: if you’re misspelling words you may as well not send your resume off. Give it the due care and attention it deserves. Ask a colleague or friend to read it, or read it from bottom to top - whatever gets you a fresh perspective on the text so you can spot errors. 

Formatting: unless you’re presenting an artwork portfolio with years of creative endeavour wrapped into the presentation, your resume formatting needs to be simple, professional, personal and readable. 

Have you developed a referral network?

A referral network is one of, if not the, most important network a candidate can build. 

This means maintaining relationships and friendships with ex or existing colleagues and being the sort of contact that is trusted enough to be put forward for roles.

If you create this professional advocacy network, you’ll find more opportunities in your inbox and a more vibrant job search. 

If you don’t, you may find your job search is stuck in trying to open the door with new employers or creating relationships with new recruiters over and over again. 

If it helps, consider your referral network the same way recruiters treat their warm candidate network - you never know when someone may need you, so keep the door ajar and keep their friendship warm.

Do you ignore recruiters?

It happens, and recruiters are sadly used to it. But setting a precedent of inconsistent communication, or outright ignoring messages or opportunities, is a straight road to closing the door on a career move. 

We don’t mean barrage recruiters with messages, or force relationships - what we mean is taking an honest approach to recruiters, learning to say no to opportunities if they don’t match your expectations, and being consistent with your comms to help recruiters help you!

Are your expectations unrealistic?

This question could be reworded in many ways: are you asking for an unrealistic salary? Are your benefit requirements unreachable? Are your flexible work demands out of place?

In short, have you done your research? 

Expectation setting is part of the pre- and mid-negotiation stage of recruitment, and candidates should be mindful of finding a middle ground on some things to build an equitable relationship with a new employer. While the current market is very much a candidate-led market, that doesn’t mean you should be completely unrealistic about your position. 

Nothing puts off a recruiter or an employer more than a candidate who expects the world and refuses to compromise where it matters. 

Finally, are you visible?

From changing your LinkedIn profile picture to one framed with “open for work”, to making sure your recruitment network is well communicated with, you need to remain visible to make sure your name and career is seen, heard and understood by as wide an employer base as possible. 

LinkedIn coaches will suggest doing things like changing your headline and About Me section to better reflect your job search needs (and help LinkedIn recruiters find you via search), but there are plenty of other things you can do to open up your job search, such as connecting with brands and engaging with them on social media; manicuring and building a presence on select jobs board with presence in your field, or taking more novel approaches to recruitment like sending videos or handwritten letters to employers to stand out. 

Be visible and you’ll be like a magnet for employers.