You are worried employers don't want to hire you, but the employers are afraid you might not be able to perform in the role.
Would you blame the employer?
Maybe not.
A bad hire is essentially time and money wasted.
Employers don't like to go back to the drawing board.
What can you do about it?
Lower your risk profile.
How?
- Provide evidence that you can do the job via previous experience or projects.
If you are an IT professional - provide a repo of your work.
Singer? Share your album
Graphic Artist? Share your designs
- Build your personal brand online - show your work everywhere - LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
People think talking about your work is showing off.
It's not.
Stop hiding your outstanding skills. Show and talk about your work.
It builds your credibility.
#2. You are only applying online
If all you do as a graduate with little or no experience is to apply online, you are in for a long wait.
Why?
Everyone is doing the same thing.
Everyone sees the job ad once it goes live on the net.
- Your classmates
- Internal candidates
- Those recently laid off from their jobs
- Those currently working willing to change jobs
- The guy who's a friend of the hiring manager
- The Uber driver that picked you up last week
Anybody can apply
You are competing against the world.
What can you do?
- Spend only 20-30% of your time applying online
- Spend time applying "offline" - reach out to companies in person, use LinkedIn to grow your network
- Focus on less competitive states or regions
#3. Lack of clarity
You don't know what you want.
This can cause serious problems.
If you don't know what you want, employers cant help you.
Their job is to hire, not to help you find what you are good at.
What can you do?
Ask yourself:
- What am I good at?
- What are my interests?
- How can I add value + get paid?
- What motivates me?
4. Poorly-written resume
Employers only spend about 6 seconds scanning your resume.
You won't pass if your resume is error-laden or has poor formatting.
A resume that worked in country A might not work in country B
What can you do about it?
Ignorance is no excuse
- Get the proper resume format
- Write it properly, OR
- Get a resume writer
#5. Application docs have no direction
Your resume is all over the place.
#Education
- Bachelor of Engineering Engineering
- Masters of International Finance
- Masters of Social Work