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3 Common Job Seeker Mistakes

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Job seeking is tough and there’s no exact rules to follow so it’s easy to make mistakes, without even realising. These are 3 of the most common mistakes that many job seekers make. If you’re job hunting and some of these look familiar to you, it might be time to rethink your job seeking strategy.

 

You Don’t Know What You Want

This is the first mistake a lot of job seekers make. Whether you’re a graduate or more experienced a lot of the time people feel the need to apply for everything that sounds like something they could do. For instance, this could be someone who is qualified in Marketing and applies for a Public Relations role. Yes, they may be linked, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re qualified or that it’s the job you’re actually interested in. When it comes to job seeking, you need to be specific and apply for jobs that you can do and that you have an interest in. You can’t just batch apply and hope for the best. Know what you want and demonstrate your interest in your application. A hiring manager can always tell when someone applied without any real interest.

 

Too Much Waffle in Your Application

Now that you know what you want, the next thing is to portray that to the hiring manager, but the problem is you undersold yourself by sharing the wrong information about your experience. Hiring managers appreciate stats, facts and figures in an application and will instantly lose interest in an application if there is too much waffle. It’s a common mistake to make, but it is one that can obliterate your chances of getting the job. To make your CV and/or cover letter more concise, why not include some stats on what you’ve achieved? It depends on your industry, but information that will impress a hiring manager are things like sales figures, marketing statistics or facts about your accomplishments in your previous roles.

 

Not Matching Your Qualifications/Experience to The Job

This is another critical mistake. When you are applying for a job you need to show the hiring manager that you are the perfect match for the job. You do this by specifically stating all the relevant experience and qualifications you have that match the job description. When a hiring manager sees this, it will make their job easier because they will clearly see how you tick all their boxes. If you have been applying for jobs with the same CV, it might be time to rethink that approach and tailor your CV to each job specifically.

Job seeking isn’t easy, but there are ways to make it easier. If you’re making any of these mistakes, fixing them could really improve your applications. Best of luck!