Reasons why your job applications keep getting rejected

It’s an awful feeling to keep getting rejected from a job when you don’t even get the chance to interview for the initial phone screen.

This is very common and has happened to many people. You apply to 30+ internships/jobs and get rejected from 25 of those.

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Well… These are the main reasons why this keeps happening to you:

1. Your application did not come from an employee referral.
2. You are not customizing your resume each time you apply to a new position.
3. Your resume is not ATS-friendly: An applicant tracking system (ATS), is a software used by recruiters and employers during the hiring process to collect, sort, scan, and rank the job applications they receive for their open positions. 

Applying through referrals

There are many benefits for companies to hire employees through referrals. This has become the most popular strategy for recruiting and it’s not going away.

Employee referrals have the highest return of investment, they also reduce time to hire and cost per hire.

You can read more about the benefits of employee referrals on this article.

The question is: how can you get a referral? We will cover this subject thoroughly in the future but for now, we will give you a quick summary:

• Reach out to people you know who work at the company you want to apply to
• Ask your connections if they know someone at the company you want to apply to
• Use LinkedIn to your advantage
  LinkedIn is a great resource to network with other professionals. If you are active on LinkedIn (engaging with other users in posts, comments, or creating content) you will get exposure to different people and might be able to start meaningful connections with them.
  
  Search for alumni from the college you are attending/attended who work at that company and start a conversation.
  
  Search for people from the position you are applying to who work at that company and do the same.
  
  LinkedIn can help you in so many ways!

Customizing your resume to each application

Every job description is different. Some of them will mention that they look for someone with specific required qualifications, while some others might list those qualifications as optional.

If you use the same resume for all applications, you might miss specific details that you should include in your resume.

Let’s think of a scenario where this could happen:

John worked part-time and had an internship related to his major.
John also has previous work experience waiting tables.

Company A is looking for someone with major-related experience but who also has customer service skills.
Company B is looking for someone with major-related experience only.

John only has space in his resume to add two job experiences.
For Company A, John could mention one of his major-related experiences and also mention his job as a waiter (mentioning his customer service experience)
For Company B, John should mention both of his major-related experiences since they don’t care about customer service as much.

If John uses the same resume for both applications, he might be missing out on a great opportunity and get rejected.

How to make your resume ATS-friendly:

1. Use keywords from the job description.
2. Avoid images, charts, or other graphics
3. Stick to simple resume formats instead of going for something unorthodox
4. Remember that this only works when applying online. If you are printing your resume, you can get as creative as you want.

We hope you found this information useful and that next time you don’t get rejected as much.

Doing all of these things sounds like a lot of work but believe us, it’s worth it!