Why is my CV Being Rejected?
Not getting an interview, being rejected or simply not hearing back from applications you have made is a real frustration. Coaching and recruitment clients area always wondering:
“Why is my CV being rejected!”
Here are the top three reasons you are not getting interviews based on your CV:
1. Your background is simply not relevant or not as relevant as the other applicants
For our recruitment business, in the full year 2020, only 5% (1 in 20) applicants made it to our database. This means that less than 1 in 20 were suitable for the role they applied for.
The competition you are up against have better, more obviously aligned backgrounds – it could be industry experience, level, functional experience – but a lot of the time, it’s more about the experience of the competition than yours.
2. Your background is relevant but you have not made it clear and obvious
Your CV is too long. Full of large rambling paragraphs with internal titles that don’t make sense externally. It is poorly laid out, mixed chronological order. You have made the reader’s life difficult so you get rejected.
You can’t make it difficult for a reader to understand you and your background and critically, it’s relevance to the role they are recruiting for.
3. You have not included (or have put in the wrong) contact details OR are impossible to reach!
You would be shocked how often it happens. Incorrect or old mobile numbers – sometimes a partner / parent’s mobile number! Invalid email addresses. Related to this is being hard to contact and unresponsive. We have received great CVs and when we try to call, leave a voicemail and follow up with an email, we hear nothing back for a week and guess what – the job is gone. Remember, you are statistically more likely to get a job being one of the first to apply.
In our CV Course we go through the steps it takes to create the ultimate CV. More than one that just looks good visually, one that has the content employers want to see. Critically, we show you how to tailor your CV without it being a huge chore and give you the reader’s perspective – you need to know your audience.
If I was to pick one piece of advice that is critical to how you write your CV it is to keep the reader in mind remembering two key facts:
The first person to see your CV is very unlikely to be the hiring manger – the may be screening based on a spec or criteria given to them by a hiring manger – you need to make it clear and obvious why you are suitable for the job and make their life easier!
Whoever reads your CV is time poor. Hiring for this role is important but is competing among other priorities – other jobs to be hired for, a day job, etc. Again, make their life easier, make it clear and obvious why you are suited to the job!
If you feel like your CV could be better or are tired of being rejected for jobs you know you are suitable for, you should check our CV Course – we can’t guarantee interviews but we can guarantee if you follow our steps, you will have the best possible chance of landing an interview for the job you want and deserve!