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5 Reasons Your Job Search is Failing

5 Reasons Your Job Search is Failing

(And how to fix it)

Joseph Waruiru
January 11, 2024

Hey - it’s Joseph here.

In this article, I am going to give you five reasons your job search is failing.

Once you fix your job search process, you will receive more interviews and increase your chances of getting your dream job.

I have been there.

Sending applications into the blackhole and receiving no feedback.

Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik

On some days I thought I was underqualified.
On other days I thought I was overqualified.
On most days I thought something was wrong with me.

The constant rejection creates self-doubt, and self-doubt is your greatest enemy in your job search.

Here are 5 reasons you fail in your job search:

1. You are unfocused

A lack of focus is driven by a lack of clarity on the kind of job you are looking for.

Most job seekers treat the job search like a gamble of sorts.

They apply to random jobs and hope to get lucky and get hired.

But hope is not a strategy.

As a recruiter, I have seen this madness where an entry level professional applies for a director level role.

Or an individual applies for a job where they do not meet even one of the key qualifications or experience.

You don’t have to meet 100% of the qualifications in a job, but meet at least 70%.

Stop applying for all the jobs you find.

Create a targeted strategy for your job search by considering the following:

What level of jobs suit you?
Which companies are you applying to?
What jobs can you get based on your skills and qualifications?

2. You are sending generic CVs

A generic CV is the CV that you send to all employers without caring for the specific requirements of the position.

You do this thinking its saving you time while in fact it’s costing you interviews.

Every company has specific hiring needs.

And an experienced recruiter can tell between a generic CV and a customized CV.

Every job advertised has two categories of knowledge, skills, and abilities: ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’.

A generic CV does not demonstrate that you have the are good fit for a job.

It does not represent the fact that you have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to do a job (‘Must haves’).

Stop sending generic CVs to employers.

Customize your CV to each job you are applying for.

3. You are over-relying on job boards

Job boards are great, but since everyone is applying there, your chances of getting noticed drastically reduce.

A job board is a funnel.

Let’s say 1000 people apply for a role and the employer wants to review only 10 candidates.

The job board has to find way to knock off 990 candidates from the process.

And it’s an easy process since most CVs are generic and not suited for the job. (Taking you back to my previous point).

Job boards are great places to source for applications.

However, if you are only looking at job boards, you are missing out on more opportunities.

What about the jobs not posted on the boards?

Expand your job search strategies to include other tactics such as:

Networking to get referrals.
Submitting your CV to company databases.
Sending your work portfolio directly to employers.

Do this and increase your odds of landing your next job.

4. You have no online presence

Your CV matters, but your online presence matters more.

In this day and age, employers are curious about who you are and what you stand for.

And that is reflected on your social media profiles.

I have seen a great online presence boosting a candidate’s chance of getting a job.

I have also seen a terrible online presence reducing a candidate’s chance of getting a job.

I’m sure you have heard stories of people losing their jobs because of anti-Semitic social media remarks they made as teenagers.

Start by cleaning up your socials.

A comment you made in another life is waiting for you to get to the top of the corporate ladder to pull you down.

Ensure you have a professional looking LinkedIn profile.

Your LinkedIn profile is a huge piece of your personal brand that also serves as a digital resume.

LinkedIn is a goldmine for recruiters.

Here are some ways I use LinkedIn as a Recruiter:

As a search engine: I use LinkedIn as a part of my strategy to find candidates for open roles.
As a conversation starter: Before I speak to candidates, I check their LinkedIn for interesting posts that I can use to start the conversation.
As a communication tool: I reach out to interesting candidates with job opportunities using LinkedIn Messages.

Why are you not on LinkedIn?

5. You are not preparing for interviews

There is a category of jobseekers who do not get past the interview stage.

Their CV works and that’s why they get noticed.

But they hit a brick wall after that.

Maybe this is you.

The problem is that you are not preparing for interviews adequately.

You are lacking the necessary information to help you hack the interview.

Do the following to prepare for interviews:

Research the company.
Find out who will be on the interview panel.
Prepare thoughtful questions for the interview panel.
Practice common interview questions (technical, behavioral and leadership)
Prepare your career accomplishments with examples (based on the job description).
Have an informational interview with a past employee of the company you’re interviewing with. Fill any knowledge gaps you have on the company.

Now you have diagnosed why your job search is failing.

If you can identify the problem, you can fix it and get your job search back on track.