Job Application Perfection is Unrealistic

As beautiful as this flower is, it is not perfect.
Neither is your application, nor your resume / cover letter.
Make sure you proofread and check for errors twice though!

by Megan Elliott, Social Media Developer

You know that nagging little voice inside your head that tells you that your application could be that much better if you just tweaked this a little bit and that wording a hair? There are those of us who hear that nonstop, no matter what we do. We’re perfectionists. Raise your hand if you’re a perfectionist. Great, you’re in good company!

The thing is, you have to let your baby go eventually, otherwise you’re going to miss out on so many great opportunities for you. That’s part of the curse of being a perfectionist. You have to let go of your resume and cover letter and let someone look at it and say, “This person is a great applicant! Let’s give them a call!”

But you’re also picky enough to realize that you can’t just apply to any and every job posting out there. You have to be selective in those openings; even if you’re not a perfectionist, this needs to be how you apply for jobs too! You have to be selective about what your skills qualify you for, and sometimes, no matter what you would like to do, you’re not qualified for that position… yet.

Even though screening softwares are looking for the unrealistically “perfect” candidate, there are things you can do to make yourself stand out after you submit your application. If you’ve done your research on the position, you know who you addressed your cover letter to, and you can use that to your advantage. E-mail them if you haven’t heard about your application in a week. Call them if you haven’t heard back from your e-mail in a couple of business days.

I’m not saying that you need to be super-aggressive, but sometimes you have to make yourself rise above the rest of the pack. Does your network have connections in the industry or in the area? Check with them and see if there’s something you can do to make yourself stand out.

So scale back your expectations for yourself, I.M. Perfectionist, and don’t obsess over every detail of your resume for days on end. Send that application in, and then focus your attention on the rest of the process, because getting yourself noticed after you hit the submit button is important too.

Why Am I NOT Getting Interviewed?!

What your file may look like in a
human resources management database.

by Megan Elliott, Social Media Developer

I know I’ve said this a million times when I’ve been on the desperate job hunt, and I probably will a million more times throughout my working lifetime. The job search is frustrating, it’s tiresome, and it is intensely hard to keep a positive outlook. The advice out there all seems to be the same, and unfortunately, you start just tuning out what other people are saying about what you should be doing.

What are you doing wrong, and how can you fix it?

It may not have anything to do with you. See, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, so everyone has a different career path. Not everyone graduates from high school and goes straight to college – not everyone who goes to college from high school knows what they want to major in and takes four years to do it – not everyone has been able to start working in their field of choice right away.

I’ve mentioned screening software in earlier blog posts, but not gone into any sort of depth. Well, here’s why: I don’t agree with the use of it because, like this author, I think it is a limiting device for human resources to say “Well, we didn’t find anyone who matched our exact requirements, so we’re just not going to fill that open position this time around.” The software takes the terms that a human hasplugged into it and scans each application and resume for those specific terms. It doesn’t know that “communications specialist” as a job title has the same weight and similar responsibilities as “media specialist,” as I pull examples from my own resume, unless the human plugging terms in has specified them as valid terms for the software.

And the questionnaires! You have to answer the questions SPECIFICALLY according to the human who selected those questions wanted them answered or, again, your resume gets tossed into the virtual trash bin before anyone human can lay eyes on it. You have to be aware of the keywords that they’re searching for – combing the job description for clues to the specific ones they want to see.

All of this ends up being the bulk of your effort when filling out job applications, and is probably why networking is still your best chance of getting an offer of an interview. If you don’t use the precise keywords for your resume and/or cover letter and the questionnaire, you don’t get the call. A human with the knowlege of what you can do and the quiet endorsement of just making sure your resume gets into the appropriate hands makes the difference.

We can help with the keyword identification in the job description, but as one of my coworkers put it, “In other words, when the job description says ‘communications,’ you put communications down. When they say ‘media,’ you put media down.” Make sure you use the same words that they use, and you’ll be much better off.