Mistakes Job Seekers Make - Here's How to Avoid Making Them

You’re looking for a new role; you probably have a process or routine in place of how you believe it is going to work for you. Does it work? Did it used to work? Is it no longer working? You may be making some simple mistakes that aren’t resonating with hiring managers. Below I have listed some of these mistakes, and how to avoid making them.

How prepared were you for your interview, when you REALLY think about it – You know who the business is, you’ve seen them in the news and know what their function is. You’re called into the interview, and they ask how much you know about them; did you take the time to look them up online, find out who their MD is and who they’ve recently been acquired by? Or how long they have been around, in which countries they have a presence and who their primary stakeholders are? It’s easy enough to say “Yeah I know who they are and what they do” but if you haven’t done your research, it will show pretty quickly and look like you aren’t invested in the organisation or the role. Take that extra 15 minutes to research who they are, how your values align with theirs, and maybe even inform them of something they don’t even know about their organisation – knock em’ off their feet.

Are you purely relying on job posts? That’s not going to work – Like above, think about which companies align with your values. You really want to work there; why are you waiting with bated breath for a role to magically open there? Get in front of the hiring manager by contacting them directly and getting your resume across their desk. Not all business’s post job ads, a lot rely on referrals or on recruiters to find them talent, and recruiters don’t often post every role they get. The client may also be contacting the proactive talent who got their CV in front of them when nothing was available at that time. BE THAT PROACTIVE CANDIDATE. They may just create a role for you.

Is your cover letter/resume the same for every application? That’s not going to work either – It’s easy to tell when a cover letter has been regurgitated (especially when you forget to change the name of the person you’re attentioning it to and the organisation name – I have seen this probably a hundred times) It’s very easy to make this mistake, especially when sending out to multiple organisations. It’s also easier to send out the same letter – but you’re going to keep getting the same result, and it’s not the one you want. Look at the position description or job advert, look at the company’s values, and align your experience to these – it will be clear that effort has been made and will be guaranteed to be looked at more than once by the hiring manager. If you REALLY want to work there, you will make the effort.

You are an expert in your field, but you’re applying to a whole other field – You might be a Communications Manager, recently made redundant, and aren’t getting the traction you are needing to secure your next role quickly. Simply thinking “Oh, I’ll just pick up some office support work in the interim until I find my next right role” is not the right way of thinking. In this example, Business Support professionals are literally this; professionals in what they do. They will be the ones applying to these roles, and even though you may be able to do what the ad requires, the professionals will be the ones interviewed for that role. Don’t apply for any old role, stay in your field or in your desired future field if you are making a career change.

Your resume is very pretty, but it doesn’t flow – You’ve put a lovely picture on there, a fancy typeface, pretty colours etc – but this isn’t the stuff we care about or look for on a resume (we can find your gorge face on your LinkedIn) The majority of the time, my eyes don’t know where to go when I get one of these CV’s; what do I read first, where does the employment history start, why are hobbies/interests taking up a quarter of the page, green and purple WHAT WERE THEY THINKING etc. Keep is simple. Make it flow. Make it so we can read it from top to bottom, reading left to right, keeping it chronological. As a recruiter or a hiring manager, the faster we can intake the information and understand who you are, the more likely we will remember you and ensure we meet you.

You’re working with HOW MANY recruiters? – It makes sense, in one sense, to be connected to as many recruiters as possible to ensure you are across as many roles as possible. The downside to this, is when it comes time to interview with a client for a role, and you have 5 other interviews lined up from your 5 other recruiters, I’ll be more likely to recommend my other candidates who believe this role is THE ONE for them. They will be hungrier for it, more researched; their values will align, and they will stay with that organisation. When you’re across different recruiters, you get told an immense amount of differing information on how to structure your resume, interview style etc, which can become confusing as heck. They all have various specialisations (mine being in the Health, NFP, Tertiary & Tech Sectors) and your values can’t align with ALL sectors; it’s important to have the right relationship with your recruiter, and it may take meeting with a few of them to decide which ones you should work with to benefit you. Choose carefully, build a solid foundation and go from there.

What are your strengths? What can you further upskill in? – Remember, if a hiring manager asks you what your weaknesses are, you don’t have any; however, you could upskill in areas ABC. Think about what your REAL strengths are prior to the interview. Many candidates give me a long list of strengths, and whilst I’m sure they are very good in these areas, I’m sure they are stronger in certain areas than others. Name your true strengths, keep them memorized, keep them up to five. Areas to upskill in – ensure you don’t say digital marketing when going for a digital marketing role *facepalm* but list up to three areas you’d like to further grow in. These aren’t weakness’s, these are opportunities.

How public is your social media? – Did you write something politically charged on your Twitter? Is your Instagram full of drunk photos? Is there some trolling with your name attached to it on Facebook? You can do whatever you want with your social media and your private time but keep it private. Turn all of these to private; one silly comment you made in 2006 could come back to haunt you and lose you a role you worked so hard to apply for.

Bad-mouthing your previous employers – I bang on about this quite a bit, but it’s because you have no idea some of the thing’s candidates have said in interviews that hiring managers have said lost them the role. That organisation pictures themselves being one of those bad-mouthed by you in the future; they also see it as you being someone who might make things difficult for them within their business, or upset their culture. Yes, some business’s we’ve worked for are worth the bad-mouthing you're giving them but keep it to yourself. If asked why you moved on from there, you say that you learned everything you could from there and knew it was time to move on and grow within a new organisation. BOOM. Nothing bad, only you rising from those ashes a better person.

Has this helped you? Do you have any other mistakes for job seekers to avoid? Write your suggestions in the comments section below!

Sasha Kinane - Senior Consultant, Marketing & Communications

03 9448 3016 | [email protected] | 0439 986 652