Are these mistakes preventing you from getting interviews?

A recruiter’s guide for aspiring applicants

Applying for jobs is never an easy process. It’s scary, stressful, and can be mentally exhausting. With today’s market, it seems harder than ever to land the job that you want, even when you’re fully qualified.

We’ve written up some tips to address common mistakes people make during their initial applications. Hopefully, this will help you get through this process and even land that first interview. Remember, your application is your first impression, so it’s got to be good!

Are you making any of these mistakes during your job search?

1. You aren’t doing your research

Try to understand the company’s mission, vision, and values by looking at their website, social media platforms, or press articles. If you can use their products in some way (e.g. downloading a free app, for example), you should! Knowing their philosophy will help you prepare for your initial call.

Even if you’re applying to a smaller, lesser known company, a deeper understanding of their purpose will demonstrate your interest in the company itself.

2. You aren’t tailoring your application

Each company will have different tech stacks, different needs, and different qualities that they’re looking for. When you send the same CV to 100 different companies, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. Tailoring your CV takes some more time, but it also allows you to really show off your relevant skillset for that role.

For example, are you applying for a back-end engineering role? If so, you should emphasize the projects where you’ve been involved with backend development on your CV. Be sure to give the recruiter a clear idea of how you’ve used these technologies.

3. Your application is missing information

If you’re applying for a role that asks additional questions (about your experience, your passions, why you want this role…) take the time to answer them. These questions are there to get a better understanding of you as a person, but also to see your writing skills and how you express yourself. If a field does not apply to you, it’s better to write a sentence explaining why it does not apply to you than to leave it blank.

4. You forgot to to proofread everything

Did you catch the typo in this section’s header? It’s so easy to let mistakes slip by unnoticed. That’s why, when you’re applying for a role, it’s very important to go over all of your answers carefully before hitting “submit.” Spelling mistakes can be interpreted as a lack of attention to detail, so why not take an extra minute and give yourself the best possible chance of getting an interview? Even if the role you’re applying to is more technical, companies still want to know that you’ll be able to properly communicate with your team. And if you’re writing a cover letter, it’s never a bad idea to ask a friend to read it over. (Hint: You can also check out free resources and spellcheckers to help you out.)

5. You might be overreaching

While we totally believe in “shooting your shot,” there’s a difference between being ambitious and being unrealistic. If a role stresses prior experience that you don’t have, your application will be less likely to move onto the next step. Don’t be afraid to dream a little, but make sure that the bulk of your applications are aligned with your skills and experience.

6. You aren’t being true to you

It’s always hard to find the balance between underselling and overselling yourself. In addition to your work experience, make sure to state your skills and capabilities too. Better yet, highlight how your skills can be applied to the role you’re aiming for. Don’t just list your strong points in bullet format — show how you’ll bring them to your future workplace.

7. You’re in “robot mode”

While you want to stay professional, don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through! Recruiters go through dozens of CVs a day, so adding a unique or personal touch to your application can really make you stand out. But please, avoid using emojis 😩😤😘

Do you agree with our suggestions? Are there any we missed? Let us know in the comments!