Getting a job can get pretty hard to some extent, especially if you do not or are not particularly able to meet the criterion of the majority of them. However, sometimes you may even be good enough or might probably have graduated from an incredibly good institute and still cannot get a job. This is not your fault; it is just that the number of unemployed people and the number of available jobs are drastically uneven. There are various steps that you are expected to take before, and after you apply for a job, one of these is the interview process which is one of the main ones to crack and of the toughest ones to be able to reach. This article discusses ‘Why can’t I get a job interview?’ in a more detailed manner.
Reasons why you’re not getting a job interview:
- Tailoring your Resume: Many candidates do not get a job interview because they go wrong in the first step itself. The first step to get a job is to pen a resume down. Now, there are either many categories in your resume that are missing, or there are parts where you might have just filled in a lot of details, most of which might even be unnecessary.
- While penning a resume down, you need to first clear your mind and think about why you wish to have that particular job in the first place, how it is going to help you, and why does it matter to you so much.
- The next step that you must go ahead with is to set ground rules. Only pen the most necessary details in your resume. Now, answer the questions that you thought about previously and consider the details that match the relative criterion.
- Be Accountable, Not Responsible: Most people think that they are supposed to be writing everything they are good at and how responsible they can be when it comes to working. However, job recruiters are not looking for candidates who display the fact that they can be responsible; they are looking for candidates who have previously accomplished something in their lives at other jobs or internships or merely even in high school. They wish to see whether or not you would continue with the job with the same amount of enthusiasm and zeal.
- The job is unfit for you: Another reason you are not able to get a job interview could be because you are sending in applications to companies that are not good enough for you or you don’t fit into the category of candidates that they are seeking. You need to make sure you send applications to companies that see your worth and realize the kind of potential asset you could be to their firm.
- Extensive Resume: As mentioned previously, you need to pen a resume that is not extensively filled in with unnecessary details. Suppose your resume itself holds irrelevant and overly intricate details. In that case, the hiring manager simply skims through your entire resume instead of actually stopping and reading the whole thing thoroughly, which eventually leads to your disqualification instantly, and you lose the chance to get the job you desire.
- Make sure, while you write your resume, you put your accomplishments in on the first page itself, probably in the first and second paragraph; if it is getting too long, you might as well subtract the other details, but your accomplishments are necessary to be presented no matter what, you need to impress the recruiters not upset them with uncanny details.
- Also, subtracting details does not mean you completely remove other parts of your resume, keep them but make sure you keep them for later because this part of your resume can be ignored, and it still would not matter as much as your achievements do.
- Work Experience: Not mentioning your work experience could be the greatest blunder you could make. The recruiters genuinely wish to know whether or not you’ve worked at places before; it could be at a job or an internship. They just want to see how and if you are good enough at handling more things on a platter if loaded with too much work once in a while and if you’d be able to manage your family and career together.
- Not applying enough: There could be one more reason why you’re not ending up with a job interview, and that is not applying enough. When you send in job applications, it is not just one place you would be sending them in; you need to make sure you send applications to multiple institutions and firms to expand the probability of getting a job for yourself. Two or three applications are not enough either unless you are mad confident about the fact that you’d get in no matter what the circumstances, and well, good luck with that.
- Please make sure you edit your resume accordingly. Read the job description and fix your resume in such a way that you have a fair chance of ending up with the job, and make it equally impressive for each job you’re applying for.
- Do not mistake sending in the same resume to each firm; there always has to be some variation. Every job is different and has different motives and motivations; keeping that in mind, make sure you design your resume in the same manner.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q1. How do I answer the question, ‘where do you see yourself in 5 years?’?
A1. Answering such a question in an interview could get pretty weird, and you might have to get creative and calculative while you answer this. But, on the other hand, the recruiters/ interviewers are looking for candidates with a vision about their future, and you are highly likely to be recruited if you win their trust somehow. So, to answer this question, first of all, think out-of-the-box.
You need to tell them what you aspire to be and what you would be doing five years hence but when you answer this, make sure you mention how the company will help you in the process and what your contributions towards the company or institute are going to be like. You need to realize and understand that you have to be an asset to be recruited as an employee in the company, and that cannot happen if you don’t get the job, and you are probably not going to get the job if you are not clear about your aspirations.
Here are a couple of samples of how you can answer the question:
S1. I do not particularly know what I’d be doing five years from now, but I do feel like I’d be in a better place than I am in today, both mentally as well as in terms of my life. I’m thinking about my career as something that needs to be advanced, and what better way to make that happen than to be part of your company?
I am looking forward to gaining experience over here, learning new things, contributing in whatever way I can to have this company always be at the top of the respected lot; I also am looking forward to being an asset here.
S2. Progressing in every front is what I have always most desired; getting a chance to become a part of this company will only help me achieve this one way or the other. I’ve thoroughly looked into the role I’m trying to get myself into over here, and from what I know, five years down the line, I’m probably going to be at a higher level, with all of the knowledge and the experience that I’m devoted to getting in here.
Q2. When asked about my weaknesses in an interview, am I supposed to tell the recruiters that?
A2. This is one of the trickier questions in an interview and has to be answered in an equally smart way. You cannot disclose every little detail about you to the interviewer; this question is meant to confuse the candidates into psychologically thinking that they need to be honest in the interview, and that is exactly where they tend to lose their points and eventually lose the job before even getting a chance to redeem themselves.
When asked about your weaknesses, you’re supposed to frame your answers in such a way that the negative aspects of your behavior are somehow covered below a sheet of positivity. For instance, you can tell the interviewer how determined you are as an individual and just don’t give a project up because it gets difficult midway, or you can tell them that you are a perfectionist. You like things to be top-notch no matter what, quality over quantity. These are some ways to steer the interview in the direction you want the interviewers to see, not the other way round.
