You’ve been there.

You send out your resumes to a bunch of job sites.  Maybe you’ve been contacted by a recruiter.  Or you’ve passed your resume on to a friend who says the company they work for might be looking for someone like you. [And if you’re in the wireless telecom industry you’ve probably sent your resume to a lot of job sites and worked with a wireless telecom recruiter at least once over the years.]

However it starts, it often ends the same way.

Silence.

Now when I was doing computer programming in school they used to tell us to put “Flags” in our programs we were designing.  Yes, there is a point.  This isn’t just computer nerd nonsense.  Stick with me.

So I fought it.  Testing, what???  I just want to get this assignment done and get out on the basketball court with my friends.  So then what happened?

Nothing.

My program did nothing.

It just sat there like a church mouse.  Doing….nothing.

I know how that feels.  It sucks.  It’s like, now what do I do?  Where do I start?  I’m back at square one.

That’s often how you feel when you’ve poured all that effort into getting your resume in hands of someone who told you (either by email, phone, or a job posting that looked like it fit you perfectly) that they wanted you.

But the reality is…

They DON’T want you.

They want someone who fits the role they are hiring for or trying to place right now.

It is like when you go to the refrigerator or pantry to get something to eat.  You’re hungry.  You want a snack.  So what to you get?

Whatever you see there that looks good.

It is the same with a recruiter or hiring manager.  They have a list of positions they’re trying to fill and a group of candidates who have resumes in front of them.  And they’re trying to find a few possible matches to interview.

So it isn’t personal.

If they’re not calling it could be one of several things.

• You do suck.

Can’t really help you there, other than you better improve yourself so you don’t suck.

• The positions they’re looking to fill don’t match your skillset.

A recruiter’s job is often difficult.  They have candidates but no positions that fit.  Or they have placement opportunities but haven’t been able to uncover the perfect candidate.  Sucks to be them too.  Oftentimes it seems like they’re searching for a needle in the haystack.

• The geography is wrong.

You’re on the West Coast and the position they need filled is on the East Coast and you won’t move.  I get it, California sunshine.  And the taxes in NYC are not any lower than here in the Bay Area.

Or that commute would be a nightmare.  Sitting in traffic jams and getting up when its dark and getting home just in time to go to sleep and do it again.  Life is supposed to be a little bit fun, right?

• They’re swarmed with candidates.

This is the sensory overload that typically happens with big company in-house HR/recruiting staff and for government jobs.

The gigs are good.  So there are a boatload of applicants.  Think Google.

Are you the best of 200+ resumes they have to go through?

Most times the answer is NO.  And that actually assumes they read your resume for more than about 10 seconds.  Just long enough to see something that set them off or to find you couldn’t get your point across in the first half page.

• The hiring manager can’t move forward yet.

This could be just going through the approval process to get a hiring requisition approved.

Or it could be that they had already done some interviewing and  decided now they want to reconsider.  Or discuss it further among themselves.  Either way the recruiter is getting the silent treatment too.  They’re frustrated because the hiring manager won’t return their phone calls and they don’t know what to tell their candidates.  Sucks all around.

 

Back to reality.

So you’ve got the big chill and are starting to have these kinds of conversations in your head.

“Will I ever find a job?”

“Maybe I’m not as good as I thought.”

“I guess I just need to stay put and learn to live with my current job.”

“I need to go back to school and get a degree so they’ll take me seriously.”

“I’m just not qualified to do more  than I am.” (Check out this link to a sample CV/Resume prepared by a Princeton professor documenting all his failures – despite being a well respected professor at the top of his field.  It demonstrates how much work it often takes to succeed – I know you might not want to hear that.  But it also demonstrates the power of will, focus, and persistence in reaching your goals – like landing this job you want.)

“Time to fill out those unemployment forms I guess.”

Blah, blah, blah.

STOP!

 

It’s not you!  Unless it is then fix it.

But 99 times out of 100 it is just that your resume is a disaster.  Its like you threw up on the page (or pages if you have that six page laundry list of jobs you worked with responsibilities listed out that no one  really cares about).  Its no wonder you’re not getting a call back.

A #resume that’s not clear, clean, or focused is one for the trash: https://t.co/2WDHXk6oxZ @MikeMcRitchie pic.twitter.com/9sBD5Lgysk

— Spark Hire (@sparkhire) July 7, 2016

Or it really could be that you haven’t hit the right opportunity at the right time yet.  That is where networking with those in your industry to see jobs come to the surface and can let you know before they become common knowledge and 200 people apply.

So keep you head up.  Keep plugging away.  Test some things.  Ask questions of those hiring and those who work in those positions today (they might tell you when someone is leaving so you can get a jump on everyone else and be that easy replacement).

Trust me.  A hiring manager LOVES an easy hire.  You know, the one who someone in their office (like their boss) suggested they consider.  And when the boss says it forget about the hardball interview questions.  It is more like, “When can you start?”

I can’t count the number of jobs I got from someone who suggested to the hiring manager they hire me.  And it usually turned into salary negotiation instead of me trying to convince them to hire me.  They were convinced before I even knew they had an opening.  Or the created an opening.

That is the situation you want to be in.

Not in that position yet?  Contact me and we’ll figure out your best strategy together.