Looking for a job half-heartedly
When experienced managers and executives are looking for a job – especially for a long time (and during tumultuous times, like the pandemic) – emotions, and especially frustrations run high! This article presents just one of many e-mails regarding this topic that we received a couple of years back.
Even though many of us have already forgotten about the pandemic, the job market is still recovering from it in many ways. And at its core, the situation presented here is something many people can relate to even today. Hence why we’d like to share with you our response to the e-mail.
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’ve been rejected via email, not even receiving 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 makes you waste 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 I had employed a lot of these activities before.
Dear candidate, we hear you!
The job market was already competitive before the pandemic. Still, the lockdown times were unusual and if you wanted to be successful in your job hunting, you needed to put even more effort and method into it – none of the job seekers had the luxury to ignore entire job search channels or approach them half-heartedly.
Where we’re at nowadays with the recommended strategy isn’t much different from back then. If anything, the pandemic made us realize how many of those strategies should be employed at all times to maximize the results.
Let us now pick out fragments of the email, so we can comment on them directly.
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.
Interview rate (IVR): 5%. That’s average.
When calculating RR or IVR, we divide the number of 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 (IVR) 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. Nowadays, we simply aim for 90-120 companies.
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 only 25% of that channel (of the recommended 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 21%.
Completely disregarding job search channels is a bad idea, but it can also be seen as a good sign for the future. You have already seen some minor success in your search even though you still have two whole channels to pursue. In other ways, you know HOW to increase your chances of landing a job interview!
Please don’t blame it all on COVID-19, because I had employed a lot of these activities 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. At least not if they’d like to have some tangible results as soon as possible.
To summarize the job hunting efforts:
- direct approach: 25% used (40 companies out of 90-120 companies recommended by us)
- headhunters: 0% (30-50 headhunters recommended by us)
- networking: 0%
- job ads: not enough data to calculate it
The numbers speak for themselves. When actively searching for a job, do it well. And during the pandemic, it had to be even more intense.
More companies use robots (ATS) and algorithms (to save money and time) than ever before (99% of large companies). Not only do candidates have to use all four channels parallel to be successful, but they also need to recognize whether they’re dealing with an AI or a human, and act accordingly.
It is crucial nowadays to adjust your job search tools – CV and LinkedIn profile to be in line with both ATS / human requirements. For information on how to adapt your CV for ATS, look no further than our ATS Gude: Click here!
Not sure if you’re doing enough? Check our Job Hunting Efficiency tool – answer 9 short questions and receive a comprehensive analysis of your job search efforts. Click here!
If you are a manager or executive with min. 10 years of experience who’d like to discuss their job search strategy, you can request a free Career Consultation with one of our experts.
- Fill out this form or send an email directly to Contact@CareerAngels.eu | Subject: Free Career Consultation
