You’ve got the experience, the skills and the CV but no matter how many jobs you apply for, interviews elude you…
Job hunting that doesn’t result in interviews, let alone job offers, can be incredibly frustrating, especially if you’re entering your fifth or sixth month of inbox tumbleweed.
Take comfort in the fact that it’s estimated that only 2% of candidates who apply for a role are selected to attend a job interview.
That said, if you want to break the cycle and start landing interviews and job offers, you need to take a forensic approach and break through the bottlenecks standing in your way.
Below we’ve mapped out a checklist of some of the most common mistakes job seekers make during the job hunting process, and offer tips on how to work around them.
- You’re being too generic
Are you sending out the same CV for every job application? While it might seem more time-effective to do this, not taking the time to tailor your CV to each and every job you’re applying for is an even bigger waste of time.
This is because most companies now use applicant tracking software (ATS) to automate the application process and automatically discard applications that don’t contain keywords relevant to the job description.
- You don’t know the latest lingo
While you should actively avoid applying for any job title that contains the words ninja or wizard, you could be discarding jobs that match your skills and experience if their job title doesn’t sound familiar.
- You’re focussing on experience over impact
While experience is important, spending five years at your last job doesn’t really tell a hiring manager anything, and your CV should give examples of the impact you’ve made in every job you’ve held. Did you smash quarterly targets or introduce a new process that helped with efficiency? Make this information a priority and add context via numbers and percentages.
- You’re not growing your network
If in-person networking events don’t appeal to you, think about alternative ways you can grow your professional network. Reaching out to your professional peers for a coffee is a simple but effective way to keep up to date with the latest industry developments and also get your name out there.
The person who you have coffee with might not have a job in mind, but they could mention your name if they hear about a job from someone else later on down the line.
- You’re not pre-interview call ready
If you’ve started the job hunting process, you should also be ready to go if an interview comes your way. This is because a recruiter or HR manager who is interested in your CV will most likely give you a call within a week of receiving it.
Don’t be lured into a false sense of security and think a pre-interview call is just an informal chat. It’s essentially your first interview and you should prepare accordingly.
Ready to refresh your job hunt and put your new and improved searching techniques to the test? The London Economic Job Board is the perfect place as it features thousands of job openings in companies that are actively hiring, like the three below.
Head of Finance and Business Management (F&BM) for Markets COO, Barclays, London
The Finance and Business Management teams deliver business management support and proactive management of Barclays’ cost base through budgeting, forecasting, month-end reporting and financial advisory work. As Head of Finance and Business Management you will support the markets COO, CIB and CIO to deliver their business agenda and be the single point of accountability for both finance and business management, provide insights and drive strategic alignment on DE&I, location strategy, hiring and vacancy review and challenge and work in partnership with cost partnering teams to provide a full set of forward looking projections to support delivery of the current year outlook. View more details here.
Risk & Controls Manager, Product, Monzo, London
As a Risk & Control Manager, you will use your passion for risk and control to support the product space, helping them stay in control as they build and ship at pace. You will report to the senior risk and control manager for core and growth, and support them managing risk across a range of products from Current Account, Business Banking & Subscriptions (including Insurance). Day-to-day you will use your risk management knowledge to support developing robust controls that meet customer and business needs now and in the future, lead risk assessments, help to embed solid regulatory, conduct and operational risk practices and culture and ensure product areas comply with applicable policies, and help to review and change them where necessary. See the full job description here.
Lead Product Owner – Cyber Security, Metro Bank PLC, London
Metro Bank PLC is seeking a Lead Product Owner – Cyber Security to own the cyber security feature team backlog and ensure that highly prioritised work items align with the bank’s strategic direction. You will also need to ensure the solutions provided meet the needs of customers, the market and the business, and prioritise cyber security capability/tool features to maximise value creation in line with the chief information security officer (CISO) office strategy, ensuring clear benefits cases for features prioritised and that benefit realisation is tracked. Get more info here.
For thousands more jobs in London visit The London Economic Job Board today