4 Ways To Sabotage Your Chances With A Potential Employer
Finding a job isn’t easy at the best of times. With literally hundreds of people applying for the same vacancies, the chances of your job search resulting in you being picked for the post are slim. Sorry to say it, but if you have already faced numerous rejection letters, you know this to be true.
And if you have been the recipient of those ‘thanks but no thanks’ correspondences, it’s entirely possible that you have done yourself no favors in your attempts to land yourself a job within the vacancies available to you. As we will consider in this article, you can reduce your chances of being picked by a potential employer because of some very silly mistakes.
Don’t waste your job search efforts! Here are just some of the ways you can sabotage your chances with a potential employer.
Send in a generic cover letter
Do you include the same cover letter with each of your applications? If so, this shows minimal job search effort on your part. You should write a fresh cover letter for each job, including the hiring manager’s name (instead of ‘Dear Sir/Madam), and tailoring it to fit the job you are applying for. You don’t have to go into massive amounts of detail, as your resumé will cover most aspects of your worth for the job, but you should still briefly explain why your skills make you a valuable candidate. Use these cover letter tips to help you create something of greater impact to the employer.
Make little effort with your resumé
Your resumé will quickly find itself in the recycling bin if it’s unformatted, full of spelling and grammar mistakes, and lacking in relevant detail. As with your cover letter, you need to put the work in, but there are ways to make the process easier. You might use one of these professional-looking resume templates for a start, as not only are they nicely presented, but they clearly break up your resumé into the relevant categories, so you know what you need to include in your text. You should also use Word’s spell checker, or an online tool such as Grammarly, to ensure you don’t send in your resumé with any blunderous errors. Research further resumé tips online to improve your chances.
Turn up late for the interview
Oh sure, you might have an excellent excuse for turning up late – the bus didn’t turn up, you were abducted by aliens – but when the interview panel has a busy schedule ahead of them, they won’t be interested in your rushed apologies. When you attend an interview, first impressions are everything, and turning up late is not going to go in your favor. Therefore, make every effort to turn up at least twenty minutes early, even if this means getting out of bed earlier, or catching a bus that gets you into town way ahead of time.
Give a bad interview
Interviews can be nerve-wracking, so a few mistakes on your part can usually be forgiven by the employer. However, some mistakes are less than forgivable. If you haven’t done your homework into the company, for example, your lack of research will show when you are asked to answer certain questions. And if you have no questions of your own to ask at the end of an interview, the employer might assume you aren’t particularly interested in the company you are applying to. Therefore, do your preparation beforehand. Research the company so you aren’t stuck for the relevant answers, and prepare a few interview questions of your own to further impress your potential employer. Then look for further advice online, as the better equipped you are at the interview stage, the greater your chances of securing the open position.
Make Your Job Search Pay Off
To improve your chances of landing the job you want then, be mindful of the blunders we have highlighted above. With a decent cover letter and resumé, and the appropriate behavior at interview, you may well stand out amongst the competition who are battling to win the jobs you have been applying for. We wish you every success in your search.