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One of the most frustrating parts of applying for jobs is not hearing back after you hit “submit.” We’ve all been there. You send this message into the universe, and then…nothing. It’s like sending them your CV and cover letter was a waste of time.
But here’s the thing. Sometimes, recruiters don’t get back to you because you aren’t a good fit for the job, or because you didn’t do something right in applying to it. In this article we’ll go over six reasons why employers might not be reaching out to invite you to an interview or talk more about a role (and what you can do about it).
Table of Contents
1. You’re Not the right fit for the job
If you’ve applied for a role and you haven’t heard back from the employer, it’s likely that you’re not a good fit for the job. The most common reason is because it doesn’t match what they’re looking for in an ideal candidate.
They may have specified in their job description that they only accept candidates with experience in X software or Y programming language, but if this isn’t something you know how to use, then there’s no point in applying unless your goal is simply to extend your CV with new skills or just get some practice applying for jobs!
Perhaps they are also looking at candidates who have more experience than yours and don’t think that someone like this would be able to handle all of the tasks required by this position (or perhaps they feel like they might not be able to afford someone with so much experience).
2. Your CV isn’t good enough
The first thing to do is make sure that the CV you are sending out is well-organized and professional.
A lot of recruiters will not even look at a CV if it is not properly formatted, so make sure your CV looks like this:
- It should be easy to read from top to bottom, left to right
- The font size and style should be consistent throughout the document (fonts with serifs are generally more professional)
- If there are any images or graphics included (e.g., headshots), they should also be consistent in size and style
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3. Your cover letter was poorly written
The cover letter is your first opportunity to make an impression on the recruiter.
A well-written cover letter will show that you take the position seriously and are willing to do whatever it takes to impress them with your talents.
check out our article on how to write a good cover letter.
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4. Your application was missing important information
You should make sure that you are qualified for the job. This means that you need to have the right education and experience for the job. If you don’t have the qualifications, then it’s likely that your application will be rejected before it even reaches a recruiter.
There’s no point in applying for an administrative assistant role if all your experience is in sales—you’d be wasting everyone’s time.
5. You didn’t follow instructions & did something wrong in the application process
Another reason why you don’t get feedback is by not following instructions. Recruiters and hiring managers have set up processes for a reason, and ignoring this process can leave you wondering why they don’t respond to your application.
- Make sure that when applying online, you are submitting your CV in the correct format. The most common formats are PDF, but there may be others depending on job requirements. If you submit an attachment of any other file type, there’s no telling how long it could take for someone to read through it and convert it back into something readable.
- Don’t apply to multiple jobs at once! This wastes everyone’s time and can cause confusion about where exactly you want to work. It also takes away from the recruiting team’s ability to focus on one job search at a time which will affect their attention span when considering candidates later down the line if they’re still trying figure out what happened with all those applications they received last week—when really they should have been focusing on what’s happening right now!
6. You didn’t address why you are a good fit for the job.
Make sure your cover letter addresses why you are a good fit, and that your CV doesn’t have obvious problems like typos, missing information such as;
- You gave inconsistent information about yourself, or left out important details—like places of residence or employment history—in either one of your documents (your cover letter or resume).
- You sent an application for the wrong position entirely, because either you (or someone else) misunderstood what was being asked for in the job posting or in an interview with a recruiter from that company. In this case, it’s up to YOU to make a compelling case as to why YOU should be considered for that position; don’t expect anyone else to do it for you!
- You sent an application without any way for us at this company to contact YOU directly; so now we can’t follow up with any questions about YOUR skills and abilities!
Conclusion
Even if you don’t hear anything right away, if you’re really interested in a job, don’t give up! You can follow up with the employer to show your interest and try to learn more about what happened with your application.
