Want the Truth? This is Why You Apply to Online Jobs and Never Hear Back from the Employer Anyone who has been in a job search in the last couple of years knows the drill. You apply online to numerous jobs and NEVER hear back from the employer. Some applications may take an hour to complete, and all you get back (hopefully) is an auto-generated email thanking you for applying. In every job seeker survey on the planet, this is a top-three frustration during the job search.
Why does this happen?
Can you do anything to change the outcome and schedule more interviews?
The answer is YES. The challenge is understanding why you are not getting more responses in the first place.
Truth be told, the number one thing you must change is the way you apply to jobs. In this skills-based economy, applying to jobs outside the skill set you bring to the table tends to be the number one reason why human recruiters or robots don’t call you in for an interview. Employers do not like to decipher your resume. If you are an account receivable analyst and apply to a claim’s adjuster position without that skill set, you will never get the call. You may think employers are looking at your stellar AR skills and think, “this person could be a great claims adjuster.” Unfortunately, employers and robots don’t think this way so you will never get the call.
Here are some more reasons you never hear back from an employer when applying online.
- Your resume is horrible. You have to read this article to understand how to make sure you don’t fall into a generic resume trap. In 2020, the employer’s applicant tracking systems are still looking for keyword matches with the job description. If your keywords don’t match, you will never get an interview if you have a lot of skills, the only ones that matter is found in the job description. If you find yourself with very few keyword matches, you most likely are not qualified for the job, and you will never hear from the employer.
- Too many applications. Sometimes too many people apply to the same job you are “perfect” for, and the employer doesn’t have time to review all the resumes. If you are an AR specialist and apply to an AR specialist opening and don’t hear anything from the employer, this is usually what is happening. If you know you are right for the job and want to work for that company, you must reach out to the AR manager via LinkedIn, phone, or email. It typically is easy to find the AR manager in a company with less than 500 employees (which encompasses over 80% of all companies).
- You are applying on job boards that are not run by humans. If you find yourself on job boards that you never heard of before, do yourself a favor and look to see if the jobs are original to that site or reposted from other websites. A quick way to tell is to see if they have a contact section with an address and phone number. Most “robot” sites that repost jobs also will ask you multiple times for your email address and contact numbers. If you see the dreaded “pop-up” requesting this information, this is a sign you may be on a website with regurgitated jobs.
- You just don’t qualify for the position. I just searched for an account manager that required a 220-insurance license. It also said, please do not apply if you do not have a 220. Yes, 70% of the applications didn’t have the 220. The challenge for so many of you is you see a great company post a job that you may have some of the skills that are needed. However, if you don’t have the “must-haves”, you will never hear back from the employer
- One-click apply. While this is a convenient feature, during a job search, job seekers have told us they will apply to all jobs since it is so easy to do. This is like fishing with 10 rods in your bathtub. You will never hear back from the employer.
- No attention to application detail. A well-done job search requires a lot of research to find jobs that are a fit for your qualifications. If your application and cover letter are not optimized for EACH job you apply to, you are missing an excellent opportunity to get noticed. I am still shocked by how many cover letters I get for any of my open jobs that are addressed to some other company. Very unprofessional and a deal-killer, even if you are qualified.
- Applicant tracking system fails. Even when you find the perfect job, the company may require you to use their applicant tracking system to apply. This requires setting up a user name and password, then uploading your resume and answering a bunch of questions. Only 25% of these applications make it through this process. Most are denied for being incomplete. Take ATS seriously. Most don’t have spell check, so make sure you double-check before submitting. Please answer all the questions they ask. Leaving anything blank leaves a bad sign. Do not try to complete an ATS application on your cell phone (less than 15% of these applications make it through).
For jobseekers just looking for work, you do have to jump through a lot of hoops. Some are warranted, while others make you wonder why they are asking for a license number from ten years ago. In the end, the employer makes the rules, and you must optimize your application, resume, and timing, so you get noticed and called for a live interview.