The secrets to job hunting success

by Steve Butler

Are you frustrated with not getting replies to your job applications even when you
appear to be the ideal candidate? Here are some simple approaches that will
dramatically increase your success.

1. The problem.

If you thought your CV always gets read when you apply for a position, think again. It is common for hundreds of CVs to be received for a typical position advertised on the Internet or in a quality newspaper. In the past these all CV’s had to be read individually, a very time consuming and tedious task. Imagine if several hundred CV’s turned up on your desk!

Shortlisting Timescales

If your CV is received shortly after a job is advertised, there is a good chance it will get properly considered. After this point, you are pretty much wasting your
time. Very often, an agency will look to submit the shortlist within a week. Once this happens, your chances of getting considered are very low.

Always check the date that the advertisement was posted. If it is not in the current wweek, ring up the consultant to check if there is still time to submit your CV. This can save a lot of wasted effort.

The ‘Needle in the Haystack’

The IT industry has developed a number of tools designed to automate the processing of job applications and CVs. These work in a variety of ways, but their basic aim is to extract the information in the CV and convert it into a form that can be searched.

Agencies much prefer an electronic application either with your CV sent via Email or

entered into the registration form on their web site.

Once they have your details electronically, the fun starts. Some firms employ
researchers who plough through each application, but typically they will seek to
reduce the size of the CV mountain.

Once your CV is received, it is then placed into an electronic queue containing each application for this position or it’s added to a giant database full of candidates. All of the applications for a position are rarely read by the recruitment consultant. If there are only a handful of applications, then they may all get read, but for well paid, competitive positions this is very unlikely.

When they are ready to build a shortlist of applicants, they will perform a search of
their database looking for suitable candidates. This search uses selected keywords to identify any CVs that contain the terms they are looking for.

With hundreds of applications, their goal is to remove as many CV’s as possible very quickly. In order to acheive this, they will use a combination of keywords and filters such as salary.

The problem lies in the choice of the words they search CV’s for. Very often, their
search will only bring back a small number of candidates who have explicitly
mentioned a particular word. There may well be many other, better qualified
candidates like yourself, but these are not found as the search did not match your
details.

For instance a search that looks for “accountant” may miss applications who
mentioned FCA or any other accountancy qualification in their CV but did not
explicitly say they where an accountant.

During a conversation with a headhunter last week, they complained that they often accidentally stumble across the CV’s of great candidates who had been sitting in their databases for months, but simply not turned up on a search. Their details only appeared when they were looking for another unrelated role.

It may seem shocking, but this is the way that most of the recruitment systems work.

This often explains why you did not even get considered for a position where you
should have been a very strong contender.

There are also other serious issues. For instance, for more senior positions, there is sometimes an assumption that someone earning £100K should not be considered for a position earning £150K simply because “If you were good enough you would already be earning this sort of income”.

You may already be doing an identical job, but your company or industry simply pays less for those skills.

So how do you make sure that your CV gets considered??

2. Matching the position to your skills

The single most important factor is to make sure that you really are a very close fit for the position. When there are hundreds of applicants, only those exactly matching the criteria will get considered. The agency can afford be be very selective.

If you are an 80% fit, then don’t waste your time!

Make sure that you are a 90-100% fit! If you are not selective, then the chances are that you will get demoralised by lots of rejection letters or worse still, getting no response at all.

You should always tailor each response carefully to bring out your most relevant
experience. If you are targeting every position that you, then you are not giving
sufficient care and attention to your applications.

Once you have carefully picked the best positions that match your skills, you need to think how the recruitment consultant might try and locate CVs that are a good fit for the role.

Carefully scrutinize the advert or job description if available. Your covering letter and CV need to replay as closely as possible the wording the agency have used. If they say “Outstanding senior accountant with business development experience needed for a busy practice”, then you should try to repeat this at the start of your covering letter and in the summary of your CV.

If they then search for all CVs that contain senior accountant and business
development, there is a very high chance they will look at your details.

As an example, don’t assume that because you mention that you are an accountant or that you are registered with an appropriate trade body such as the ICAEW, that the recruitment consultant will find you when they search.

You should spell out that you are an accountant and mention your qualification and
professional body within the document. You increase your odds of being found
enormously if you do.

Although this example is for accountancy, it applies to every industry and profession. Every CV you send out should be tailored for the position to maximise your chances of success. It may take a little more time, but it helps to make sure that you are found. There is nothing more demoralizing than not even getting a response to an application.

For more senior roles, this gets even more involved. It is more difficult to find top
people just using keywords. For instance, the agency may have 500 partners on its books, but how do you find one who is “dynamic, go-ahead and will grow my
business”??

The consultant will still use their search tools, but they now have to look for words
that describe the ideal candidate. You really have to understand exactly what they are looking for to “tune” your CV appropriately. If your skills aren’t a strong fit, then you are wasting your time applying and need to find a more suitable position.

Another trick that can bypass the search issue, is to ring the agency up and talk to
the person who is looking after that position. Tell them you are interested in the job and ask them if they can tell you more. Very often you will get extra clues that help you to target your skills and experience effectively.

The other benefit is that if you can whet the appetite of the consultant, they may well be looking our for your CV when it arrives. This totally improves the odds in your favour.

3. Summary

1. Select only completely relevant positions.

2. Scan the advert and write down the key requirements.

3. Make a note of the words that they use.

4. Save a new copy of your CV and tailor this specifically for this position bring out
your best and most relevant experience.

5. Use the same words as they do, particularly mentioning any keywords.

6. Do the same for the covering letter

In each document, place the keywords at the end using white text on a white
background to make this invisible.

The CV searching tools will still see this, but the reader won’t.

When you send the documents to the agency, wait a day and then contact the
consultant handling the position.

Explain your interest, why you are a close fit and ask for their feedback. At the least, it should ensure that they do read your CV.

If there is a big difference in your current salary to that in the position, don’t provide details of your salary even if it is asked for. If the agency likes your CV and then rings you back, then they are potentially interested.

Always let them buy into you first! Very often you can get the right salary, once you have convinced theyou are the right candidate.

Job hunting is essentially a process that can be learnt and mastered. With time and
determination, you can make a real difference to your prospects and salary.

Steve Butler - CEO of Get More Job Offers

The best advice, tools and resources available to speed up your job search.

www.getmorejoboffers.com

Source: High Quality Article Database - 365articles.com