Application Disasters: Are you making them?

In case you hadn’t noticed, the recruiting game is picking up. If you’re a great candidate, recruiters and hiring managers will be lining up at your door, but don’t make these application mistakes. They can sink anyone!

You act like you don’t care. With so many career coaches telling you to avoid desperation, it’s tempting to play it cool during your job search. Here’s the problem: the job hunt is like dating only sometimes and recruiters don’t really have the time for you to be coy. Instead make sure that you are quick with follow up, but also thorough. Return phone calls, provide alternate contact details and always show up for the interview.

Your not careful. See what I did there? If you’re not proofing all your written communiques with anyone at the company with whom you’re looking to land a job, you’re asking for trouble. Unsure about spelling, usage, grammar and more? Seek out resume samples online, use a spellchecker, and team up with a “job hunting buddy” to look over correspondence and resumes before sending them out.

Not upping your game. Chances are you’re tailoring your outfit for the company culture, so why haven’t you tailored your resume? Sending out a generic resume for every position is one of the biggest mistake candidates make. Look over the job requirement or advertisement to spot words you can use within your resume. It shows you’re really interested in the position.

Read the directions. If there’s one common gripe I hear from recruiting managers, it’s this one. If the HR professional or recruiter has gone to the trouble to spell out the correct way to apply to a job and what to include, please take the time to listen and comply. After all, if you can’t manage to follow directions during the application process, what hope is there that you’ll be a team player post-hire?

You’re just not qualified. It makes sense to shoot for the stars, but don’t apply for jobs for which you aren’t qualified. This is the other thing that recruiters absolutely hate. Even if you think you have the potential to get the job done, but not the experience or education, find another way to get your application in the door. Using the spray and pray method not only makes you look inexperienced but like you don’t respect the company’s time.

Bonus: Not prepping for the interview (or the application) is probably the most costly mistake. Perhaps you could nail the job but just need to learn a little more about the industry, not prepping yourself for first (or any) contact is a huge no-no. How do you know when you’ve prepped enough? When you know not just the details about the job, but the company, the industry AND any potential contacts within the organization. If you know all that, then you’re almost there.

Which do you think is the biggest interview mistake?