Reasons You Aren't Geting a Call Back!

When applying for jobs, it's very common that you apply to many jobs, but none of them call you back for an interview. 

This can be very frustrating when you are looking for a job. Some of the reasons you don't get a call back are out of your control, but some of the reasons are within your control. 

Here's a list of the most common reasons why you don't get a call back, and how you can improve your chances to get one.

Things in your control

1. You aren't qualified for the job

If the job description specifies they need a certain amount of education and work experience, you will need to make sure you have it. 

For instance, if a job wants 3 years of accounting experience and you are just out of school, you probably won't get a call back.

Solution: Don’t apply for jobs for where you lack the qualifications. Most job descriptions are written with very specific requirements. Yes, the company is trying to find the most qualified candidate; yes, they are trying to weed people out. No, it’s not personal, it’s business.

2. You look over-qualified for the job

Looking like you're overqualified can hurt your application as much as being underqualified does. More isn't always better! 

Employers often don't want over-qualified people working for them because they think you will get bored with the job quickly and quit. Employers want a worker who will stay for a while.

Solution: For many jobs don't show all your education or work experience. Use only a few examples of your work experience in your resume (the ones that relate to your job). You can also use a cover letter to explain why youre applying and how excited you are for that role. This will make employers think you're more likely to stay and not quit. 

3. Your resume is full of mistakes

You'd be surprised how many essays have simple grammar and spelling mistakes. Not only that, but some people use fancy resume formats to try and get their resumes to stand out, only for it to look weird and confusing.

Employers don't care about fancy formats and they do want someone who can write and spell properly. So make sure you don't overlook this basic, yet super important part.

Solution: Go over with a grammar checker. If you're not confident with your language abilities then ask a native speaker or use Grammarly. For more tips to help with writing a resume then please click here.

4. Keyword optimize your resume

Your resume is the first thing employers see about you, and they often don't spend too much time looking at them (they're busy after all). To save time, employers look for specific words or phrases that relate to the job they're hiring for (called keywords).

Job descriptions have many keywords in them that tell you the skills or attributes the company is looking for. You must read the job description carefully and then keyword-optimize your resume and cover letter, if you’re using one).

Solution: look for the specific qualifications/skills a job is looking for in the job description, and then put those things on your resume. For instance, if a job says they want someone ‘detail-oriented’ then make sure you emphasize on your resume how you're detail oriented.

5. Not having a cover letter (or having a bad cover letter)

A cover letter is a way to tell employers what you can offer their company. It also looks way better than not having one. If you have a cover letter your resume is much more likely to get looked at. So make sure you include one!

Another problem is that oftentimes cover letters look generic and were not tailored to the job. The goal of a cover letter is to sell your accomplishments. 

Solution: Always include a cover letter! And in the cover letter write about what you can offer that specific company, not what you want in a job. Be specific and highlight your best attributes in your cover letter. To help write your cover letter click here.

6. Job-hopping

Job-hopping refers to working many jobs for a short period and then quitting. Employers don't like to see this because it makes it seem like you'll quit the job quickly.

Solution: For job hopping make sure you emphasize the jobs you were at the longest and that you learned the most from. Don't include unimportant jobs you quickly quit in your resume. Just leave those out. 

7. Job gaps

Job gaps are periods of time in your resume where it looks like you didn't have a job. Employers also see this as a red flag as they will wonder what you were doing during that time. So if you didn't have a job for a while this could hurt you.

Solution: Explain other relevant experience you gained during your time off work. You can include volunteer experience, travel experience, etc. This will make it a bit better. 

You can also change the formatting of your resume. For instance, instead of saying the exact months you were hired just include the years. You could say 2017 - 2019 (rather than May 2017 - August 2019) for a position. Then, if your next job began in November 2019, you can list it as 2019 - Present, which makes the nine-month employment gap less obvious.

8. Unprofessional social-media presence

Employers will often quickly look on your social media accounts. If they see you doing very unprofessional things on your account(s) they may not want to hire you. Take a look at your own social media accounts and make sure there's nothing bad on there.

Solution: Look at your social media accounts and get rid of very unprofessional pictures/videos on your accounts. If you don't want to do that then adjust your privacy settings. 

9. Bad interview

If you did get a call back and were given an interview, but you didn't get a call back after that then there's a good chance you didn't do well on your interview. The interview is the most important part for employers so you will need to make sure to use that as an opportunity to show off your skills.

Solution: You don't need to be perfect in an interview but you do need to speak up and let the employers know your skills. Practice before the interview and imagine what questions they'll ask you so you will know what to say if and when they do. For more interview tips click here.

Things out of your control

1. Other applicants are better qualified. 

You may be a good match for a job but there was another applicant who was better for it than you were. Employers want the best person they think they can get so they will choose someone who had more experience than you.

The best way for this is to move on and keep applying for jobs! You will eventually get one and gain more work experience which will make you more qualified.

2. The company is rethinking the need to add an employee. 

Often, businesses will put out a job ad but then change their mind. Maybe business has slowed, and the employer is no longer hiring for that position. Adding a new employee costs money, and if there’s a business slowdown, the organization may be rethinking the decision to expand the workforce. Not much you can do in this case.

3. Employer simply didn't see your resume

This may be one of the most common issues people face. Some job openings get so many applications that it's impossible for someone to go through them all. If an employer gets 100 resumes and they only go through 80 (and you're the 81st), they may just not look at the rest if they already found some decent people. The only thing you csn do is to try and make your resume stand out as much as possible. Even then, they still may not see it.