As CEO and cofounder of ZipRecruiter,
Ian Siegel has watched more than 25 million job seekers and tens of
thousands of employers go through the recruiting process. As a result,
he’s seen plenty of perfect matches – and also a hell of a lot of
mistakes.
But of all the job seeker mistakes Siegel has witnessed in his time,
the one that he finds most problematic – and it’s a pretty common one,
too – is when job seekers send out too many applications to too many jobs.
“It’s an unintended consequence of the efficiency that the biggest
players [in the recruiting space] have brought to the application
process,” Siegel says. “If you look at LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster,
ZipRecruiter – we all offer one-click applications.”
This one-click application technology
– ostensibly a boon for job
seekers because it prevents them from having to re-enter the same
information over and over again when applying to jobs – has turned many
job seekers into trigger-happy hunters. They see jobs that they might be qualified for, and they just click that “apply” button right away.
What do they have to lose by doing this? A lot, actually – and they gain very little in return.
Creating the Void
In recruiting and HR circles, it’s common to hear talk about “the
void”: Candidates send their applications to companies, and they never
hear back – not even a rejection email. A lot of HR and recruiting pros
are looking for ways to fill that void and ease candidate frustrations.
They don’t want top talent to think poorly of their companies because of
bad candidate experiences.
But, in some ways, the candidates have only themselves to blame for this void.
“When you make it so easy to apply, two things happen,” Siegel
explains. “First, job seekers will apply to more jobs – even if those
jobs are stretches for the skills they posses. Second, job seekers don’t
make the same investment in an application. The frequency [and quality]
of cover letters goes down.”
Is it any wonder, then, that candidates feel like they “never” hear
back from employers? When you’re firing off undercooked applications to
every remotely relevant job posting in sight, you’re bound to end up
with a lot more misses than hits.
Plus,
according to Siegel, “sending out job applications has almost no impact
on the probability that you are going to get contacted by an employer.”
That may sound odd, but look at the stats: If you compare a job
seeker who applied to 10 companies with a job seeker who applied to 45+
companies, the rate of response for each job seeker only differs by 4
percent.
So, no: More applications does not mean more responses in any meaningful way.
But what does impact the probability that you are going to get
contacted by an employer is a good cover – which many job seekers are
slacking on, thanks to the ease of one-click applications.
Writing a Great Cover Letter
In Siegel’s opinion, “The cover letter is where a job seeker really
has the opportunity to set themselves apart.” So, if you’re tired of
sending applications into the void, you need to do two things: Be
choosier about where you apply, and start writing great cover letters.
“You need a plan,” Siegel says. “You need to figure out what kind of
company you want to join. That requires doing a little bit of research.”
Once you’ve done your research, figured out what kind of company you
want to join, and identified a few organizations and job postings that
meet your criteria – and you’re qualified for the positions – it’s time
to sell yourself in a good cover letter.
The key to such a cover letter? Don’t focus too much on what you’ve
done in previous jobs – focus on what you can do for the company going
forward.
“It’s a simple thing, but it is so infrequently the approach that job
seekers take,” Siegel says. “There’s a real dearth of application
training.”
That’s not to say that you should skip your past accomplishments
entirely; rather, you have to strike a balance between what you’ve done
before and what you can do for your new employer.
And, whatever you do, don’t simply rehash your resume in your cover letter.
“The
reality is: The variation in required skills for the same role from
employer to employer is very small, so, you’re basically checking a box
when you say, ‘I have those skills,’” Siegel says. “You are up against
other people who also have those skills and have checked those boxes.
How are you going to stand out? What’s the next thing you’re going to
do?”
And, finally, there’s one more thing you should know about crafting a
perfect cover letter: It should focus on the company, not on you.
“Your cover letter should say, ‘I have researched your company, and I
know something about it. I think it’s great. I understand these
specific challenges, and I can help you solve them because of the
experiences I have had,’” Siegel says.
In Siegel’s experience, it is the job seekers who put the most effort
into their cover letters who have the most success on the job hunt.
Don’t let the convenience of one-click applications fool you into
thinking more is better. When it comes to the job search, it’s all about
quality, not quantity.
Source: recruiter.com
Source: recruiter.com