If you’ve been applying for jobs but haven’t yet secured a new position, it can be useful to take a step back and reevaluate your job search technique.
Even if you’re doing everything well and persistence is all that’s required, taking time to consider how things are going and what you could do to improve your search can be helpful.
With this in mind, here are 11 things to avoid when you’re searching for a job.
1. An inappropriate social media presence
Whether you like it or not, social media can impact your job search. Once an employer receives your application, they might check your social media accounts to learn more about you.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to keep your social media accounts as private as possible, while making sure that anything on display makes you look friendly, approachable, and fairly sensible. This means checking that your profile picture isn’t of you singing drunk karaoke, or dancing on tabletops – unless that’s the image you’re keen to portray.
Additionally, if you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, now would be a good time to set one up. If employers find that a candidate doesn’t have a LinkedIn profile, they might have concerns about why – which could put you at a disadvantage. For example, they might wonder about your technological skills or whether you have something to hide.
Creating a LinkedIn account is free and easy, and it’s worth doing if you want to give yourself the best possible chance of success.
2. Selling yourself short
There’s nothing wrong with being humble and modest. But when it comes to applying for jobs, it’s important to put your best foot forward and sell yourself as much as possible.
No matter what your background is, you’ll have useful skills and experiences to offer.
For example, if you haven’t worked for a while because you’ve been caring for a sick family member, try not to look at this as simply ‘being out of work’. Instead, consider it the equivalent of an unpaid job where you developed skills like resilience, empathy, communication, and the ability to keep calm under pressure.
Every experience is worth something and, chances are, you’ll have skills that are more valuable than you realise – so try not to sell yourself short.
3. Sending job applications that contain grammatical errors
You’d be surprised how many CVs and cover letters contain spelling or grammatical errors, and this is a quick way to lose an employer’s attention.
One of the key things that many employers look for are signs that you take pride and care over your work, and that you have good attention to detail.
Having mistakes on your CV or cover letter can suggest to employers that you aren’t serious about the job you’re applying for because you haven’t taken the time to check over your application.
To avoid any mistakes, it’s always best to review your application – and possibly have a friend or family member read it too.
4. Sending out generic applications
Often, it can feel like the quickest way to land a job is to fire out a series of applications to try and increase the likelihood that you’ll get a response. But this usually means you won’t have taken the time to tailor each one to the role you’re applying for.
Employers will want to hear specifics about why you want to work for their company and what positives you can bring to the role. So, if you send the same generic application to every company you apply to, there’s a good chance that you won’t capture an employer’s attention and make it to the next stage of the application process.
When you’re applying for lots of jobs and struggling to get an interview, it can feel like a lot of work to write multiple cover letters and tailored CVs. But it’s better to spend an hour working on one application than to send off the same CV and cover letter to multiple companies.
5. Forgetting to include a cover letter
While not compulsory, including a cover letter is a great way to capture the attention of a potential employer.
A cover letter is your chance to speak directly to an employer and briefly tell them the key reasons why you’d be a good fit for the job, outline your transferable skills, and explain why you’re excited about working for them. It can be a really good way to make your application stand out.
6. Trying to hide gaps in your CV
CV gaps are very common and can occur for a number of reasons. For example, having to look after a sick relative, recovering from illness, or going travelling.
It’s always best to be honest and open about breaks in employment, as gaps can often come to light during reference checks or at the interview stage.
As long as you can give a confident and reasonable explanation for any gaps, employers aren’t likely to hold them against you. But if you get caught trying to hide your past or are overly apologetic in your explanation, they may become a bigger issue for an employer than they need to be.
7. Having an unprofessional email address or voicemail message
It might seem insignificant, but if you want employers to take you seriously, it’s a good idea to make sure that you don’t have an unprofessional and/or inappropriate email address or voicemail message.
If you have anything particularly edgy, it’s better to have a separate email address or phone number to give to employers.
8. Making your CV too long
Employers can receive hundreds of applications for a single job opening and they’ll have a limited amount of time to get through them all. This means they’ll typically skim-read applications and only look in more detail at those that end up being shortlisted.
For this reason, it’s helpful to keep your CV brief and only give details about your most recent skills and experience, because you’ll only have a matter of seconds to capture a prospective employer’s attention.
The best way to do this is to keep your CV to two pages and avoid using long paragraphs. Instead, use bullet points and short sentences to detail your skills and experience. It can be especially important to have a strong and succinct opening statement that summarises your experience and skills.
9. Relying solely on job listings to find new opportunities
If you’ve only been applying for opportunities that you’ve found on online job boards, it could be time to broaden your search.
You don’t need to wait for a job to be advertised to enquire about working for a company. Sending off a few speculative emails could help you to get in the door before a role is advertised, or prompt a company that’s been thinking about hiring into making a decision.
Consider building up a list of companies you think you’d enjoy working for and write a personalised note to each of them, explaining why you’d love to work for them and what you could offer to their team.
This demonstrates to an employer that you’re proactive. Even if the companies don’t have an opening right now, they’re far more likely to remember you and get back in touch when they’re looking to hire.
You could also try having a closer look at your network to see whether there’s anyone you know who could introduce you to people working in the industry or company that you’d like to work for. You never know when the next opportunity might arise.
It’s also worth seeing whether there are any job fairs being held in your local area. Job fairs offer the chance to meet employers face-to-face and network with a range of different industry professionals.
10. Putting all your eggs in one basket
While it’s important to stay hopeful and positive when applying for jobs, it can be helpful not to place too much hope on one particular application, as this might prevent you from applying for other opportunities.
Keeping your options open will help avoid disappointment and can improve your chances of getting the response you want.
11. Letting rejection affect the rest of your search
Receiving a rejection after submitting a job application can be tough, and while it’s okay to let yourself feel disappointed, try not to let that disappointment stop you from moving forward and applying for the next opportunity.
Once you receive a rejection, ask for feedback on why your application was rejected (although, don’t worry if they won’t provide this) and use it to move forward and focus on the rest of your search.
Rejections are inevitable, but the key thing is to keep moving forward. As the saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens. So be sure to take any feelings you have after a rejection and turn them into a desire to better your application and interview techniques.
Bonus tip: use keywords in your CV
After we first published this article, a few Rest Less members contacted us to suggest this idea. We thought it would make a great addition – so here it is as a bonus tip!
Many CV sites allow employers and recruiters to conduct keywords searches of their CV databases, so that they can filter to candidates who have relevant skills or experience mentioned on their CV. For example, a company looking for a Sales Manager might search for keywords like “sales manager”, “business development”, “customer pipeline”, “lead prospecting”, “CRM”, and so on.
Think about the kinds of searches you’d like your CV to appear in. Then find a way to include words related to that search within the relevant sections of your CV. Naturally, the most important thing is that your CV reads well. However, there’s usually a way to work keywords neatly into the existing content, particularly if you’re already talking about the kinds of skills and experience you have.
Final thoughts...
We know that finding a job can be a real challenge. Even if you’re following the right steps, it can still take time for that breakthrough to happen.
Try to stay optimistic and approach each application with the same energy and enthusiasm as you did your first. The more positive you are, the easier the journey is likely to be and the better your chances of success.
For further reading, head over to the jobs and careers section of our website where you’ll find everything from interview tips to career change guides.
Did you find these suggestions helpful? Do you have any other tips you could share with the Rest Less community? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.