Some job seekers have a unique talent for sabotaging themselves.
Some job seekers have a unique talent for sabotaging themselves. They snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This trait is demonstrated time and time again during the interview process. Smart, well-educated, white-collar professionals tend to do dumb things, quickly getting kicked out of contention.
Here is how job seekers blow themselves out of the water before being offered an interview.
Having Multiple Sources Submit Your Résumé
Job hunters have a bad habit of submitting multiple résumés through various sources for the same job. The person submits a résumé and completes the online application.
After a day or so, there is no feedback from the company. In the meantime, a recruiter contacts the person, excitedly sharing the job description for the opportunity that you recently applied to. Instead of honestly responding, “Thanks, but I already shared my résumés with the company,” they profess ignorance. “I appreciate that you thought of me for the job. It sounds like a great opportunity to take my career to the next level. Please submit my résumé!”
The recruiter, believing you have the right background and experience, emails the résumé and a write-up about the candidate to human resources and the hiring manager, stating that the applicant is a perfect fit. Time elapses and still no word. The job hunter reaches out to a friend who knows a person at the target company and asks her to forward the résumé, neglecting to mention that it was sent over several times.
Once the résumés go through the applicant tracking systems and make their way to the HR person, there is confusion over why there are so many submissions. The internal talent acquisition person may ask what happened. The applicant is placed in an uncomfortable position. They were clearly trying to game the system and play everyone against each other. Usually, the candidate will start by saying, “Sorry, I didn't realize that this was for the same job. When the recruiter called, I thought they were talking about another role.”
After some cross-examination, the mortified applicant recognizes that they’ve been busted, as the stories don’t ring true. The recruiter, understandably incensed that the candidate went behind their back, claims that they should get full credit for the submission and are owed a placement commission fee, if the person is hired.
The result is that the company will take a hard pass, as there is too much drama and too many questions at the onset of the process. They don’t want to get into a battle of whether the recruiter should get paid or not and if the internal employee receives a bonus for making the introduction. It's easier to just move onto the next candidate and make a note not to accept or be on high alert over any future résumés from this person.
The Spray-And-Pray Approach
A similar offputting job search method is the “spray and pray” approach. This is when a job seeker spams a company with their résumé, applying to 10 different job listings. The rapid-fire résumés are meant to catch attention. The job seeker thinks that it’s a smart move to play the “law of large numbers” game. By shotgunning the résumés to many different positions, they’ll rationalize that maybe one will hit.
It has the opposite effect. The company negatively views this style. HR will feel that you are insincere and couldn’t care less about any specific job. The company prefers to attract people who genuinely want to work for the organization in a particular role.
Getting Knocked Out Right Away
Several triggers drive recruiters, human resources and interviewers crazy. When a person puts on a pretentious demeanor and talks condescendingly, it’s a turnoff. “So, I do X. Are you familiar with X (meanwhile, X is exactly what the HR person specializes in for the last 20 years)? That’s okay; I’ll explain it for the next 30 minutes, as if you’re a third grader.” No one wants to subject their staff to having to deal with an arrogant, self-aggrandizing windbag.
If you’re asked why you are looking for a job and immediately launch into a bitter, negative diatribe of how awful your boss and co-workers are, point out all the bad decisions that were made and share confidential insider information, it's a big red flag waving to stop the interview process.
Interviewers expect that you did your homework and conducted at least a modicum of research into the company, its mission, products, the people you’re meeting and other facts and figures about the company. When on a video interview, if the candidate is obviously reading from a script taped to the side of the computer or on their screen and furiously searching Google for answers, it’s all over.
What You Should Do
It's relatively easy to avoid these pitfalls. Submit your résumé for jobs you truly want at companies you’d love to work for. There is no need to put on airs and pretend that you are better than everyone else. Don’t play games by having recruiters send your résumé after you already submitted it, as it won't work out well.
Always be polite, courteous and professional. Dig deep into the company, the job and its requirements. It will make you feel more confident and there won’t be a need to wing it. Be your true genuine and authentic self. You want the company to hire you for being you and not some phony façade.
