One of the biggest mistakes made by most applicants is failing to prove the value in hiring them.
It’s a very terrible feeling when things don’t pan out the way you had anticipated, especially after putting sheer effort and believing that you’ve set up yourself for success. Let’s talk about tailor making your applications.
Most companies are too busy to sit down, sip from a tall glass of wine and say okay, ‘let us respond to him/her and explain why we turned their application down’. As a result, many people who had believed their CVs were the best end up heart-broken to say the least, when they are rejected without a shred of explanation.
One of the biggest mistakes made by most applicants is failing to prove the value in hiring them. Recruiters look for people who’ll join their team and make an impact by contributing their skills and experience. As a job seeker you should you should be able to demonstrate how your actions impacted your previous organizations.
- Horses for courses: Horses for courses is an English term used to describe the process of matching skills to tasks needed to be done. A recruiter will turn down an application where the skills on the C.V do not match the skills on the job description.
- Failure to summarize your skill-set: Too many applications may be received and pile up the recruiter's desk. As a result, there won’t be enough time to look keenly for details, and only those who have summarized their skills will be taken in. Sandwiching skills in-between huge paragraphs may cost you that opportunity.
- You were good, but not the best: This one is common in applications for jobs where their nature is highly competitive and so many people have applied. For example, you may be in the top 5 in an ocean of 100 applicants, but the recruiter ends up selecting the top 3.
- Fit disconnect: An example is where the job is looking for youths, but you apply as an older person, or where experience (in terms of age) is needed but you apply as a youthful applicant. It is important that you do your homework and figure out what the employer is looking for.
- Failure to clearly tell why you do what you do, how you will help the organization and what you have done in the past.
- Failure to demonstrate abilities: In this era, employers look for more than what is colored on the academic papers. They want to see demonstrated ability to lead, to work in a team, to communicate, to solve problems, to create, among other soft skills.
- Incomplete data: This is where you mention jobs you have done in the past but leave out what exactly you were doing, or mention ‘University degree’ but fail to give details.
Incase you missed the previous post, here it is. Part 1 – The look and feel.
