I have been sending my applications but I've never had a call from an employer, what could be wrong?
Posted January 4th, 2016 -- 9:50 AM

We have been having this complain from hundreds of candidates who believe they are qualified for the jobs they have been applying for, yet they have never received a call from an employer. On the other hand are those who on their first three or so attempts they had calls and some of them are working.

The question therefore that we ask ourselves is what do the successful candidates have that the others don't?

Our research has shown that those who present themselves very well on the CVs are those who will receive the calls from employers and recruiters. However, they are not necessarily those who get the job. It therefore indicates that the two main stages of getting a call and getting the job require different competences if one must succeed.

To get a call, your CV has to be outstanding in terms of attention to details, authentic, unique to your strengths and presentation of the skills that match the job and company in question.

When we say attention to detail, employers are looking at the format of the CV, the presentation, accuracy and spellings. Anything the reflects an error is a warning sign to all employers.

Authenticity is about presenting oneself in the truest possible form without trying to mimic another. Most often, given that candidates use templates to build up their CVs and Motivation Letters, they tend to copy these templates without customizing to reflect their skills. Most of us are guilty of this fraud.

On unique skills, most candidates tend to ignore these. Actually, most beginners don't know their unique skills as such can't even present it on the CVs and their Motivation Letters. Unique skills are essential in making an applicant standout from the crowd. The truth is we all have unique competencies.

The last but not the least is skills matching the job and company culture at hand. Here again, most applicants miss it all together. Except for general recruitment, an applicant need to have a full understanding of the job at hand so much so that they reflect that on their CV and Motivation Letter. More so, getting a good understanding of the company gives one an advantage.

To stand out from the crowd and get that call from the recruiter, you need to put in more effort that usual for every job application. Don't go generic. Go unique. Do your homework and get every details about right.

Team Akwajobs