Job interviews are the important bridge between getting employment and not getting employment. They’re the opportunity for you to showcase your skills and indicate to your prospective employer that you are the right person for the role.
The problem is, thousands of people apply for vacant positions everyday – meaning your resume really needs to stand out from the rest.
It’s a common situation that you’ve applied for heaps of job vacancies and not yet received a reply or an invite to a job interview. There are normally some obvious reasons for this, and you might not be to blame!
So, in this guide, we’re going to explore the reasons why you might not be getting a job interview and explore what you can do to solve that!
Table of Contents
Over Reliance On The Same Methods
It can often be easy to apply for vacant job roles in the digital age. You’ve got your resume ready and all you have to do is hit apply.
The problem is that so many other people are doing this and employers might get overwhelmed by the number of job applications. To curtail this, many employers who decide to go through the process in a much easier and smaller way will choose other methods to get their right candidate.
If you’ve been over reliant on the same job application method, this could be the reason why you’re not getting any responses from employers – your application is getting lost in the huge shuffle!
It’s highly recommended that you switch up how you’re applying for vacant job roles and use a plethora of different sites and different means.
In the digital age, you might be thinking that employers aren’t using the “outdated” method of posting job vacancies on windows of stores or in newspapers. The fact is, many still are – so looking in the unlikely places might bear fruit.
Your Resume Is Missing Things
You’d probably be unsurprised to hear that your resume is a crucial part of getting a job interview. This is the first step in trying to entice an employer to take you as a serious candidate.
The thing is, your resume might be missing some vital information. What is common is that many candidates will list things like what their old job roles were and what they did – but not discussing the crucial details that an employer will look for.
You used to be a customer service agent? Great. But what exactly did you do? Why would an employer want to hire you?
The way you can entice an employer to invite you for a job interview is to talk about situations where you used your skills and experience learned from the role and put them into practice. Discuss real events where you helped someone and what you did.
Talk about how you resolved a challenging situation or how you might have improved in the future. Employers will likely know what your previous role was – but they’re really looking for the person. How is it that this old role will be useful experience for your prospective employer?
Your Resume Is Wild
You might have had lots of jobs in the past, but what many people don’t realize is that you don’t have to include them all in a resume!
If you’re looking for a specific job in a specific industry, talking about previous experience in irrelevant positions will not help you, and it will make the resume look scrappy.
Let’s say you’re looking for a job in the media. Discussing previous media experience and what skills you have, along with credentials and other relevant media information regarding you will be useful to include.
However, including previous experience and history of a role in carpentry would not be useful and will simply take up crucial space. Remember, with so many people applying for job vacancies, it’s highly unlikely that a prospective employer is going to read everything on your resume.
Therefore, it’s vital that you’re including the “must read” information that will attract the employer to you. You don’t get a second chance when it comes to your resume!
Tip: tailor your resume!
You’re Applying For The Wrong Roles
You might not be getting a call back from an employer because you’re applying for a role that you simply are not suited or qualified for.
If you have no experience, qualifications or other relevance for the role – consider why you’re applying. Are you suited at all for this job?
If the answer is no, you should probably look at other roles that match your qualifications and experience. If you’ve recently come out of the military for example and you have experience and qualifications in a specific job role – why are you applying to be a roofer?
If an employer does not see any relevance from your resume, they simply will not call you and invite you to an interview.
You Have Gaps
There are some red flags when it comes to resumes. If yours has a huge gap between employment or education, this will raise alarm bells with the prospective employer.
If you’ve had a long term unemployment period – don’t worry about it! What people try and do is hide this period and employers will not respond. You’re much better off including it and explaining what you did during this period.
It should outline how you developed your skills and performed voluntary work or how you filled your time. We all have time where we are unemployed – don’t shy away from it.
In fact, some employers might value your honesty and how you managed the period of unemployment.
The Resume Format Is All Wrong
You simply might not have created the correct resume!
If you’re not including your experience at the top, or missing key personal information such as contact details – or you’re including the wrong information at the top of your resume – employers may not even entertain reading it!
Summary
There are plenty of reasons why you might not be getting a job interview, but the key is largely in the resume. Consider getting advice about your resume from a professional before you keep applying for roles.
Good luck!
