Why do candidates actually get rejected for jobs by IT recruiters?
Picture created with AI - spot the weird tail / arms ;-)
It’s a tough job market out there for a number of reasons; the economy is flatter than usual, global inflation is high, interest rates are up (but hopefully starting to come down), cost of living has sky rocketed (food, insurance, rents and rates) and there are a lot of people looking for work, I’m getting 200 to 300 emails a day at the moment which is due in part to the number of restructures over the past year. The market has definitely changed.
When you are applying to jobs in a candidate flooded market there are some absolutely key things you need to get right with your application:
Updated well written CV - make sure your location, contact details, visa status are clear to the reader
You MUST include a short, succinct well written cover letter or else you’re likely to get rejected on this straight off the bat (there’s just so many applications that this is a good way to start the screening)
Apply to roles that you genuinely have a shot at…there’s a lot of research on this, one piece found women candidates will only apply if they can tick 10/10 boxes whereas men tend to ‘give it a go’. https://hbr.org/2014/08/why-women-dont-apply-for-jobs-unless-theyre-100-qualified If you think this is a role you can do, but you’re not sure then do apply - as they say ‘you have to be in to win’.
Apply to roles that are similar titles to what you already do. If you’re close and trying to step up then put that application in…again…nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I also wanted to share my heartfelt empathy as I’m getting a lot of candidates asking me for feedback which is the right thing to do. Something to remember in a market like this is that there are lots of factors involved and it’s often not you that is the reason you’re not getting an interview or through to the next stage.
Common reasons why candidates are rejected no matter what they do in an overly cautious IT job market:
The role is withdrawn by the client…This can be for many reasons. The line manager or exec team have decided they no longer have the budget for the role or the strategy has changed. They might decide to recruit in a different location or decide to outsource the role and use a contractor or outsource partner / services company. These are all things you can do absolutely do nothing about.
The company downgrades the seniority (or decides to upgrade the seniority) - they decide they only want an intermediate instead of a senior or vice versa for example. Ah but you say I can do the role. but often the company fit says they want a different mix in the team. Sometimes a team has too many senior devs / architects and wants more balance so require junior / intermediate devs to be hands-on in the code enjoying the challenge of learning and new work.
It’s completely frustrating getting feedback ‘you’re too experienced’ or ‘you’re over qualified’ but the reality is the hiring team and line manager get to make that call, we as recruitment consultants are just facilitating the process and have to keep to the client / company requirements to find them the best person for their company but we’ll always try our best for you.
Apply to relevant roles that match your experience…yes I know it’s hard but if you’re a senior with a ton of experience it’s unlikely the company advertising for a graduate is likely to hire you. Unfortunately when that senior role comes around with that same company or recruiter it can muddy your reputation as they’ve seen your CV already.
Be patient (harder said than done) as we’re often experiencing delays from the hiring managers getting back to us which in turn takes some time for us to get back to candidates. But as many people know if they email me I will get back to you and am always happy to give constructive feedback if I have it and as soon as I know something, even if it’s a no, I’ll let you know so you can have closure and move on.
This is a time to network at meet-ups, catch up with coffee with old colleagues, meet with recruiters. Use the time wisely to do some new training courses on AI / LLMs (Co-pliot, ChatGPT), learn a new coding language or some cloud skills instead of aimlessly spamming job ads that will only get you more frustrated.
When the right opportunity does come up you’ll be organised, well prepared and ready to pounce. Hot tip - once you’ve applied call the hiring person 2 days after to politely ensure they have received your CV, show your interest and ask what next steps are…you might be surprised and you may even get short-listed for interviews as you’ve made yourself stand out by a genuine phone introduction compared to the 400 job applications on email.
Again we wish you the best out there, keep your head-up, stay positive and remember in technology it can never stop (history shows it usually just plateaus) and just keeps going so you will find something, it can just take a little longer than it did 18 months ago - go well :-)
I’m Paul, lover of coffee, dogs, biking, surfing & skiing. Founder & Principal Consultant of Sunstone, an IT Recruitment & HR company specialising in recruiting IT roles within software, web, mobile, blockchain, data, cloud infrastructure, security & networks in Christchurch & South Island of New Zealand.