When experienced managers and executives are looking for a job – especially for a long time or during “CV-19”-times – emotions, especially frustrations run high! This is just one of many emails we have received in the past months. As it’s a very good example, we’d like to share with you our response to it.
“Dear Career Angels,
I thought you would be curious about the results your services have generated. Well – no results at all.
I have directly contacted 40 companies. 5 of them answered, with 2 of them I talked on the phone or Skype. I sent a follow-up email to the ones that hadn’t reacted after 7 days. After another 3 days, I sent them a LinkedIn invitation. I have contacted 1 alternative decision maker. Result: silence.
I have approx. 20 headhunters in my LinkedIn network, but I haven’t contacted any of them.
I also applied to every job ad I’ve seen on LinkedIn that matched my experience. Additionally, I have directly contacted 6 companies. Each time I received email rejections, not even an invitation for a phone call.
I went to exactly 1 interview. It went well, we scheduled an update in two weeks and then they stopped answering my emails and phone calls.
I received 3 or 4 rude emails that sounded something like “what exactly makes you so exceptional that you steal my time” and I was ghosted several times.
As to networking, I haven’t done anything. I didn’t have time for it and in times of COVID-19, it’s difficult to meet people.
Do you offer services that actually work? And please don’t blame it all on COVID-19, because a lot of those activities were done before.”
Dear candidate, we hear you!
The job market was already competitive before COVID-19. Times are unusual and if you want to be successful in your job hunting, you need to put even more effort and method into it – none of the job seekers has the luxury to ignore entire job search channels or approach them half-heartedly.
Let us now pick out fragments of the email, so we can comment on them directly.
I have directly contacted 40 companies. 5 of decision makers answered, with 2 of them I talked on the phone or Skype. I sent a follow-up email to the ones that haven’t reacted after 7 days. After another 3 days, I sent them a LinkedIn invitation. I have contacted 1 alternative decision maker. Result: silence.
Interview rate: 5%. That’s average.
When calculating RR or IR, we divide effectively contacted people by all. The definition of effectively contacted is: you have sent 1st email and the follow-up email. In other words, the more companies you contact, the higher the number of replies and interview requests you receive.
The average numbers based on our data:
• response rate (RR) of 30-50%
• interview rate (IR) of 5-10%
40 companies is definitely not enough. Our recommended scope is 90 companies to start with. In CV-19 times, some of our clients needed to extend it to 120.
To get more replies and interview invitations, we recommend to contact alternative decision makers in every company that hasn’t reacted. Contacting only one alternative decision makers is definitely not enough.
To sum up: you have used 25% of that channel (the pool of 90 companies / before CV-19).
I have approx. 20 headhunters in my LinkedIn network, but I haven’t contacted any of them.
You have used 0% of that channel.
We recommend to contact at least 30-50 headhunters (1st email + follow up).
As to networking, I haven’t done anything.
You have used 0% of that channel.
Networking is one of the most effective job searching channels with an efficiency of 29%.
Please don’t blame it all on COVID-19, because a lot of those activities were done before.
That’s true: COVID-19 has changed the job market significantly, but one thing hasn’t changed and one basic rule still applies: none of the job seekers has the luxury to ignore job search channels or approach them at half-steam
To summarize the efforts:
• direct approach: 25% used (40 companies / 90-120 companies recommended by us)
• headhunters: 0% (30-50 headhunters recommended by us)
• networking: 0%
• job ads: we don’t have enough data to calculate it
The numbers speak for themselves.
When actively searching for a job, do it well. But… in times of CV-19, it’s even more intense. More companies use robots (ATS) and algorithms (savings in money and time). Not only candidates have to use all four channels parallel to be successful, but they also need to recognize if they’re dealing with AI or a human. Additionally, they need to adjust their job search tools – CV and LinkedIn profile to be in line with ATS / human requirements.
If you are a manager or executive with min. 10 years of experience who wants to discuss their job search strategy, you can request a free career consultation by clicking here or sending an email to Bichl.Sandra (at) CareerAngels.eu. Subject: Career Consultation.
