10 Reasons Why Your Resume Isn't Getting You Interviews

Finding a job is a stressful process that requires a lot of time, work, and energy. It can be incredibly frustrating to submit your resume to numerous job opportunities you feel are a great fit, but not get any interview requests. If this is happening to you, it may be time to start figuring out what could be going wrong!

On average, there are ~250 resumes submitted per job opening with only 4-6 people called in for an interview. That’s quite a bit of competition. Your resume acts as a first impression for potential employers, so there is no room for error. You could be the most qualified person for a position, but if your resume isn’t scoring well with an applicant tracking system (ATS) or doesn’t wow a reviewer, you may be finding yourself in the “no” pile quite often.

So, what does it take to get an interview? Here are 10 reasons why your resume isn’t getting interviews and what you need to do to fix it:

1. Your resume is making it hard for an employer to contact you. In other words, your resume’s contact information is either missing, lacking, or outdated. I once had a client tell me they preferred not to have their phone number listed, as they did not want random people calling them all the time. Keep in mind, you want to ensure you are making it easy for a hiring manager, recruiter, or HR representative to get in touch with you. They will not be spending time tracking down how to reach you and are more likely to just move on to the next candidate. Furthermore, make sure your phone number and email address are accurate; and don’t forget to check your voicemails and emails! People commonly create email addresses for “professional purposes” but forget to check the inbox regularly.

2. You resume lacks an ATS friendly format. Today, most companies you apply to online utilize some sort of ATS or candidate database. These systems scan your resume before a human takes a look (for more ATS information, check out our blog post www.careerconnectionsllc.com/post/what-is-this-applicant-tracking-system-you-speak-of. These systems and databases are programed to forward on resumes determined a good fit based off information and keywords. Many systems will throw out your resume for various formatting reasons, including using tables, nonstandard bullets (diamonds, check marks, stars), unique fonts, excessive borders / section breaks, or use of abbreviations and acronyms.

3. Your resume is missing quantifiable or measurable results. Gone are the days where you just list out your roles, responsibilities, and functions of a job. To stand up against the heavy competition, you need to make sure you are viewed as an achiever not just a doer. Your resume should be filled with accomplishments, achievements, and results. Make sure you are showcasing what you do well, how you do it well, and the proof that you did it well.

4. Your resume’s content is not tailored to the position you are applying for. Create a master resume that you use as a foundation to tailor and customize for every single job you apply to. Sounds like a lot of work, right? Well if you have a great resume to start with, you shouldn’t be completely rewriting your entire resume each time you apply for position. The idea is that you are making minor tweaks and edits to align with the skills and requirements as outlined in the job description. The section on your resume that you should be focusing your customizations on is your summary and skills list. Make sure you are adding in all the appropriate keywords and phrases. Utilize a website such as www.wordle.net to create a word cloud of job postings to identify commonly used and important keywords.

5. You resume is missing keywords. Similar to number 4, your resume must have the needed and appropriate keywords for the positions you apply for. ATS are built to identify resumes that include specific keywords and phrases an employer indicates are of high value. You should see an increase in your application to interview ratio once you start adjusting and adding in keywords.

6. Your resume has errors. How many times have you reviewed your resume for mistakes? Now review one more time. Pro tip: read your resume out loud to hear how it sounds. Another top reason why resumes are not generating interviews is because they are thrown out for errors or mistakes. Have a trusted friend or family member (or better yet a certified professional resume writer) to review your document, not only for mistakes and errors, but to make sure it reads well, makes sense, and is understandable to a 3rd-party reviewer.

7. Your resume lacks a brand. Whether you have been in 1 position for 20 years or have jumped around to various jobs, your resume should still showcase a cohesive and well-defined brand. Your brand should be expressed throughout your resume in the form of a branding statement, summary, and sprinkled throughout your experience. Personal branding tends to be difficult for people to develop and establish. To help brainstorm, here are some questions to ask yourself: What are you good at? What kind of impact would you bring to a company / position? What is your value proposition? What are your unique work characteristics that are different from the average candidate?

8. Your resume still has an objective statement. Delete that objective statement immediately! Remove any reference to “Seeking a position that…” or “Utilize my skills and experience to…”. By submitting your resume to a job application, it is clear the objective is to get a job. Instead focus your resume on your brand, accomplishments, and skills you have to offer.

9. Your resume is too long, or too short. There is a fine line between a resume that has too much information, and one that doesn’t have enough. Think of your resume as a sales brochure of what you have to offer. You want to give enough information to keep your reader engaged and interested, but just enough to keep them wanting more and have plenty to talk about in an interview. While a 1-page resume used to be the standard, 2 pages are more accepted, and expected; any more than 2 pages becomes cumbersome for someone to review – so stick to 2 pages! For more information about resume length, Fox Valley Career Connections has an informative blog post: www.careerconnectionsllc.com/post/how-many-pages-should-my-resume-be.

10. Your resume uses acronyms, articles, pronouns, or is written in a passive voice. Make reviewing your resume easy on a reader. Keep in mind, those reading your resume include recruiters and HR reps that may not have knowledge of the acronyms or jargon commonly used in your industry. Always spell out an acronym the 1st time it is used with the acronym in parenthesis after it, then feel free to utilize just the acronym if used again. Additionally, many ATS may be searching for just the spelled-out word or the acronym, so it’s important to have both at least once. Remove all articles and pronouns from your resume to simplify the writing. Never use “I”, “me”, or “my”, and remove “the”, “a”, and “that” where possible. Resumes that are short, simple, and less cluttered are easier for a reviewer to scan and quickly assess your experience and skills. And finally, your resume should be written with an active voice. Passive writing tends to create wordiness and doesn’t take ownership of the action. For example, “The department sales were increase by me by 25% each year since 2018” is in passive voice. Instead, “Increased department sales 25% annually since 2018” is in active voice and is more concise and straightforward.

For more tips and the assistance of a professional resume writer, contact Fox Valley Career Connections.

www.Foxvalleycareerconnections.com

info@foxvalleycareerconnections.com

@CareerConnections