Five Reasons Unemployed Candidates Don't Get Employer Response

Are you frustrated that you're not hearing back from employers after you apply? You're not alone.

Do you think it's because you're unemployed rather than currently working? While unemployment bias might impact your search, there are usually other reasons you're not hearing back from employers.

Here are 5 reasons unemployed job seekers don't get employer response (other than unemployment bias):

1. You're Buried In The ATS: Your resume has to be almost an exact match to get through Applicant Tracking Systems. To make it tougher, ATSs only count exact words/phrases as a match, and you're using a published job description that's usually at least 50% different than current hiring manager needs (and current search criteria)..
2. Your Resume Didn't Impress HR/Recruiting: Your resume could have gotten past the ATS, but it didn't impress the humans who pre-screen. To overcome unemployment bias, you need to prove to employers that you'll do more, by doing more on your resume and in the application process.
3. Your Resume Looks Average To Employers: This is a common reason when qualified applicants don't hear back from employers - Most job seekers think that all qualified candidates will be contacted. Today's employers get 5-10 qualified candidates competing for each interview spot (50-100 qualified candidates competing for 10 interview spots), so qualified = average. Average resumes don't impress employers, when they have so many to choose from (why wouldn't they instead want to interview candidates who are better than average?), even when you're qualified. If you're using resume advice from outplacement, most career coaches/authors, or had your resume written by most professional resume writers, your resume comes across as average (because these sources teach or were taught to write average resumes through their certification training).
4. You Look Like The Wrong Fit: You look like the wrong fit when you don't understand the opportunity/employer/ department well enough, when you don't understand the employer's unique language, or when you use publicly available company research (which is almost always obsolete).
5. You Use The Fake Application Process: Most career resources (outplacement, most career coaches/authors) and HR departments advise you to use the fake application process - Apply online on job boards, company career pages, ATSs, or through LinkedIn. This is the process HR departments use to collect resumes, but it only represents 20% of new hires. 80% of new hires are identified through the real process.

The good news is that you can solve all of these problems with more effective changes to your resume and job search strategy. You'd already be doing this if you knew how - I'll show you during my next free Resume Webinar: Beating Unemployment.

I help people solve the most difficult job search problems, including job search acceleration, getting past ATSs, ageism, remote positions, product/job function/career/industry/ geographic change, unemployment, "bouncy" recent career path, job search turnaround, seeking raise/promotion, industry in decline/consolidation, long term gaps, family leave, or other of the most challenging job search issues.

Join me for my next free Resume Webinar (enroll at https://x.resumewebinar.com/register for no charge) and learn how to accelerate your job search, so you can find your next job faster in 2023.

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