Not Getting Interviews? Here's Why & What You Can Do About It

"Why am I not getting interviews?" A google search question with over 523,000,000 results, searched every .86 seconds. WOW. While there could be many reasons why you aren't getting job interviews, below are the top 3 that I've noticed as reasons why you're receiving a low response rate and what you can do about it.

1. Your job search is too heavily dependent on job boards.

Job boards are great for seeing what's out there in the job market but as with everything else, they have their limits. Because they're not updated in real time, they often have a large amount of expired positions. Also, unless a company has a paid account with many of them, the recruiters don't actually receive notifications of candidates that have applied for their positions.

Limiting your job search to just job boards is like putting all of your eggs in one basket. Instead, utilize a multi-prong job search strategy that includes leveraging your network and social media.

If you're not sure how to develop an effective job search strategy, grab the Job Search Strategy Toolkit to learn the multi-prong job search strategy that lands you in the top 2% of applicants who actually get considered for any position, instead of the 98% who don't.

2. Your résumé isn't interview-worthy.

A poorly written and confusing résumé is 95% of the time where the problem lies. When your résumé does a poor job of telling your professional story while speaking to the the job you're applying for, it's difficult for the recruiter to make sense of why you'd be a great candidate for the job.

Lose the overloaded paragraphs and craft an immediate narrative about who you are that grabs the reader’s attention, right at the top of your résumé. Instead of listing tasks and duties, drop what's not relevant to the job and storify your accomplishments with metrics and context to clearly state what you've actually done.

For example:

Managed the day-to-day operations and updated tracker.

This doesn't give the recruiter a good sense of what this person actually did. What does the day-to-day operations consist of? What does that have to do with the tracker? How was it managed? Why is this important?

Explain your work clearly and concisely to help the recruiter better understand your value add.

3. You're not serious about your job search.

Looking for a job is a job in and of itself, that requires strategy, commitment, and a positive mindset. With unemployment assistance doubled, stimulus checks, and other forms of aid as we get through this pandemic, you only kind of want a job. You're seeing what's out there every once in a while, but not really into the job hunting thing, forreal. You're lack of commitment and inaction could be the very thing holding you back. If you really want it, put your heart and mind into it, and consistently do the work to begin bearing the fruits of your labor.