Job hunting may have taken the best of your days as of late.
You have your completed resume with you, different cover letters for multiple companies, and practice questions so you’re prepared for any interview.
Still, you do not understand why no matter your effort to send out your application to many companies, you are still not hired for any up to now. No one company has given you a sure YES or have shown interest in your application. It can be frustrating not knowing where the problem lies, especially if you have done everything you can to go out into the world and say that you need a job. It’s actually telling of your frustration that you are reading this article right now.
Our first tip for you is very basic—relax. You might feel that you’re behind your peers and that you are alone in your joblessness but this is simply not the case. Many people are also struggling to get hired. You may not know them but there are millions, yes millions, of unemployed people across the world who are doing what you are also doing right now. If you do not stop, you’ll get hired in one way or another so there’s no use in expelling energy panicking now when you should be channeling it to your job hunt. The right door will open just for you so don’t be discouraged and continue moving forward.
You are already one step ahead by doing your research and acknowledging there might be a problem in your application. Something doesn’t add up in what you are currently doing which may be the reason why you are still not employed at the moment. The next step now is to pinpoint your problem and solve it. Is there something wrong you said in your cover letter? Did you put so much information in your resume and not all of it is relevant to the job that you are applying for? You can look for a mentor who is capable of critiquing your application. You have to be open to criticism even if you are feeling shy. You can always ask a friend from the industry to give you pointers.
It’s not easy to write a winning resume, especially if it’s your first time. Schools lack the training for students to get hired once they graduate. So, it’s not uncommon for people to be making mistakes when they write their resumes. Here, we will list down the most common mistakes people make in their resumes. It’s easier to avoid doing something when you’ve already identified what shouldn’t be done.
What should a resume have in the first place? Look at it this way. Your resume can be likened to your dating app profile. You would put all the necessary information that you deem will help you land a date. The same goes for a resume. This professional profile of yours should detail your work history, educational background, relevant internship or unpaid working experience and your skill set that will put other applicants to sleep. When you’re writing your dating app profile, you are neither humble or shy. You make sure it’s perfect before you begin swiping. The same is for your resume where you are pursuing a company to hire you.
So what mistakes do people make? We have a list below of the most common mistakes.
1. Your objective is not connected to the job posting.
The objective in your resume must vary from one company to another, depending on what you are applying for. Not only will it describe your career goals, it should give your future employer the idea of your hopes once you get accepted by their company. They are concerned with what you hope to contribute to the company and how it’s suitable for the job position that you are vying for. So make sure to not only write in a concise phrase your career objective but also how it will contribute to their business.
2. You put in unrelated work experience to the job opening.
It’s not how long your resume is; it’s how relevant it is to the job posting. If you make it long because of unnecessary work listings, then you are just making things inconvenient for your interviewer or the company’s HR manager to see if you are a good fit. It is highly probable that they are receiving lots of applications and are skimming through many resumes in one glance. You have to make yours stand out by adding work experience and skills that are related and relevant to the job position. Your future employer must see what you could offer to their company given your previous work background.
3. Your resume is not specific and detailed.
Going back to our dating profile analogy, no one wants to interact with a vague person. This is the time for you to make things extra clear for your employer to hire you. Even though we don’t want something that is long, we want everything that you write in there to be as specific as possible. The industry rule is to add in at least three or five details about your previous job, what are your related tasks that can be used for this position. Use action verbs because it gives a sense of what you have done for your previous employer that could contribute to the job posting you are applying for at the moment.
4. Your resume is not customized to the job post that you sent it to.
Every company is different so you have to pay extra attention to the details provided in every job posting that you come across with. It is not the right time to slack off, especially if you want to get hired soon. So take the time and conscious effort to customize your resume for every company that you are applying to. The future employer must feel special, that your resume was especially made for them. It doesn’t mean that you have to start from scratch every time you will send a resume. You just have to tweak the details provided to target what the employer needs.
Recommended tool: If the need to get hired is very strong, consider job hunting as full-time, 8 to 5 job. It helps to equip yourself with the right tools to help you get hired with the perfect resume and portfolio. Use ergonomic furniture to avoid any discomfort while job hunting. This will also protect your health over time and help you stay efficient and productive not only during your job hunting but also once you get hired.
