You sit and stare at the
phone. You check your email. You check your text messages to see if perhaps you
missed that all important call or text message inviting you over to your first
appointment whit this company you’ve so wanted to join, but there is nothing.
How can this be? You might wonder. Well today we look at some of the reasons
why for a number of job seekers, getting that first foot in the door seems such
an elusive task.
Cover letter
To start with, examine your
cover letter.It probably looks decent enough seeing as you did spend quite some time writing it. Remember
however that every else did spend quite
some time writing theirs as well, so in the end the employer may have ended
up with applications that were more or less the same. This unfortunately makes
it that much easier for them to ignore nearly all of
them.
The “I” attitude
When writing pitches for
jobs, many people tend to write of their achievements in the first person. “I was responsible for…” “During my time at…
I supervised…” Focusing too much on your own achievements may prevent the
employer from seeing what you have to offer the company. Do not sell yourself
short.Try writing with your focus on the ‘you’ attitude. Show the employer how they by hiring you, not what you gain by getting hired.
Resume/CV
If you can’t find a problem
in your cover letter, how about the resume/cv you sent in? Remember that these two terms mean two different things and thus serve different purposes. Your cv/resume is
meant to advertise you to a prospective employer, so like any other marketing
tool, it needs to be carefully designed in order to have the most impact.
Tone
A cover letter should not
only be well written, it should also ideally match the tone that was present in
the original job description. To do this, look at the job description. How are
sentences worded? While most firms will normally employ a formal tone, (and
consequently should get a formal response), others will not. This is especially
true in creative industries such as graphic design, or marketing firms which
may be looking for any signs of creativity. And that includes your letter, so
be careful. A simple test is, to read your letter out to a friend or two and
ask them what they were thinking about when they were listening to you.
Are you qualified or
experienced enough?
No doubt a tricky subject
this. Many people feel that they missed out on jobs which they met all the required
qualifications. While that may be true, employers generally use the
qualifications requirement to filter out the huge numbers of expected traffic
from eager job seekers. If you do meet all of the listed prerequisites, include
something that will make you that little bit different from the majority of the
people. How about that time you helped out by volunteering at the children’s
home? Or perhaps that time you spent volunteering at the Kenya Red Cross?
Workshops, seminars, training you have attended? Include them all!
Good references.
Some employers may perform
background checks on prospective applicants after the selection process, but
before notifying them through their contacts. This includes getting opinions on
the applicants character from past employers, trainers etc. For this, your
references are absolutely critical as they will either make or break you in the
eyes of the employer. Include only the people with whom you have had good
professional relations, and even then, remember to ask them for their
permission before you do. If an employer picks up on any doubt or uncertainty
in their voice when they speak of you, then it could seriously put a dent in
your credibility, leading to your name being dropped from the shortlist. Try
and get the right people on your side.
Timing
Like any other opportunity,
timing plays quite an important role in landing you that dream job. Believe it
or not choosing the right time to send in your application can make a
difference. While there is no agreed upon time to do so, some (link) career
experts believe that the best time to send in your job application is
approximately a week to the deadline, so that you beat the main rush in the form of the early applicants.