No Interview Calls?

Having no job, people get desperate. Getting desperate, job seekers tend to apply to hundreds of jobs with faulty job applications. But their job-seeking efforts go in vain when they get no interview call. Resulting frustration leads to more desperation, which in turn leads to faultier job applications and thus the cycle goes on.

It is very important to break the cycle of faulty job applications. But the prerequisite to that, a candidate must know what faults in a job application lead a CV to be ignored by the recruiters. Before applying, one must know what mistakes must be avoided, and what things must be done.

5 Must-do things:

While applying for a job, a candidate should be doing the following things:

1.     Study the Job Circular and Find the Keywords:

Before applying for a job, a candidate must study the Job Circular for that job – thoroughly. Ideally, the job circular should contain information about the job descriptions and job requirements. If and only if those job requirements match with the candidate’s profile, the candidate should apply for that specific job. If the circular requires the candidate to have a certain level of experience, then a candidate should not apply for that job unless s/he doesn’t have that level of experience.

A recruiter only shortlists those profiles/CVs that match the job requirements – both academic and experiential. Therefore, to get an interview call, a candidate must apply to the job opening for which the job requirement and candidate profile has a match.

2.     Customize your CV and Incorporate the Keywords:

Before applying for a job, a candidate must study the job circular to identify exactly what the recruiter is looking for in the candidates to fill the position. To get an interview call, a candidate’s CV should reflect what the circular asks for. Unless what is asked for in the circular is not found in the CV, there is little chance of that CV getting shortlisted. Therefore, customizing the CV according to the Job Description raises the chances for that CV to get shortlisted.

3.     Change the CV format into PDF:

Recruiters search for JD-specific keywords in the CV. So, CV should not be in .jpeg., .png., .ai or any other un-searchable picture/image format. Meanwhile, if a CV is sent in an MS Word file, there remains the possibility for the CV to get distorted since the recruiter may not use the same MS Word version as the candidate does. And a distorted CV is sure to get ignored.

4.     Maintaining Email Etiquette:

While applying for a job through email, it’s important to maintain formal email etiquette. Formal email etiquettes include: professional email address, professional picture in the email ID, beginning and ending the email with a proper salutation, leaving your contact details at the end, proper email body structuring, avoiding begging tone, precise and to the point cover letter content in the email body, etc. Email subject line must include the specific keywords mentioned in the Job Circular (If the circular mentions any, of course).

5.     Proper CV making:

Your customized CV should not be over-colorful. It should not include irrelevant information about the candidate. The size of the CV should not exceed 1 MB. Major/minor/concentration of the academic information should be properly mentioned. If the CV is of any fresher, then mentioning the result is a must, along with the above-mentioned information. Reference should be given after contacting the respective personalities so that if your given reference is contacted, the recruiter gets a positive review of the candidate. Only the relevant experiences should be mentioned in the CV. Academic information should begin from Secondary School Certificate (SSC) or “O” Level. No need to mention academic particulars before SSC/ “O” Level. The CV must mention the specific span of experience, specific year of passing the academic degrees, specific year of achieving any relevant certifications or accomplishments.