Why Senior Candidates Send More CVs and Get Fewer Replies
The job market is increasingly sending mixed signals: candidates report longer recruitment processes, fewer responses to applications, and greater competition for attractive roles, while employers continue to point to difficulties in finding people who truly meet their expectations.
At first glance, this may seem like a paradox, but in many cases it is the result of greater market polarization. Forbes describes this phenomenon as the “barbell effect”: demand is concentrated at the two extremes of the market – on the one hand, professionals with specific occupations and practical qualifications, and on the other, experts with rare skill sets.
The greatest pressure comes from the middle, as this segment remains the most vulnerable to economic fluctuations. From Career Angels’ perspective, these are often candidates with solid experience but without clearly demonstrated expertise, a competitive advantage, or clear positioning. This is one of the reasons why some experienced candidates are sending out more and more CVs yet receiving fewer and fewer interview invitations.
Why Is the “Mid-Market” Having a Hard Time Today
Over the years, many candidates have built their careers on stability, a broad range of responsibilities, knowledge of processes, and successive promotions. These factors are still important today, but they aren’t always enough in a market that has become more selective and cautious when it comes to hiring decisions.
This doesn’t mean that experienced candidates are no longer needed. More often than not, their advantages are less obvious to the recruiter, hiring manager, or decision maker. The general profile of an “experienced manager” can be too broad, especially when their CV focuses mainly on job responsibilities rather than demonstrating the candidate’s impact, results, and the business challenges they can solve.
The higher the level of responsibility, the more important it isn’t only to highlight the candidate’s career history but also to demonstrate how their experience can address the needs and challenges of a future employer. At the managerial and executive levels, it is therefore not enough to simply list where a candidate has worked and what their responsibilities were. It is also necessary to clearly demonstrate why their experience is relevant in the current market context.
More Applications Don’t Always Mean Better Chances
Forbes cites an example of a recruitment process in which a company received about 180 CVs for an administrative position, but only about 10% of the candidates met the criteria and were invited for an interview.
We see a similar pattern in practice as well. In one of our recruitment processes for an assistant position, we received 1,289 applications. Among them, 65 applications were clearly mismatched with the job description and the level of the role. Some of the candidates had around 20 years of professional experience, and some had previously held management positions, including at the CEO level.
This shows that sending more applications doesn’t solve the problem if there is a lack of fit. A candidate may send out many CVs and receive no response to their applications, which over time leads to frustration, a loss of motivation, and a feeling that their efforts aren’t yielding results. Therefore, the problem doesn’t always lie in the number of CVs sent, but rather in the quality of the match for each application and the way the candidate demonstrates their value to a potential future employer.
At Career Angels, we often see that candidates have strong experience, but their documents and market communication don’t showcase it clearly enough. A CV describes employment history but doesn’t highlight their competitive edge. LinkedIn presents a career trajectory but fails to build a consistent brand. A candidate talks about their job responsibilities but not about the business challenges they can solve. Applications are sent regularly, but often using the same CV, without tailoring it to the specific role, scope of responsibilities, and the employer’s expectations.
As a result, the market doesn’t see flexibility, but rather a profile lacking a clear direction. Not every candidate needs to become a narrow specialist, but their experience should be described in a way that aligns with current market needs.
Versatility Doesn’t Always Work In a Candidate’s Favor
In practice, such an advantage can take various forms: controlling combined with automated reporting, HR supporting workforce planning and the implementation of AI tools in recruitment, sales in the context of international expansion, the digitization of operational processes, or management focused on cost optimization. For executive-level roles, this may involve change management, guiding the organization through restructuring, scaling organizational structures, leveraging technology to improve efficiency, or leading the organization under cost pressures.
Consistency between what a candidate presents in their CV, on LinkedIn, during networking, and in interviews is crucial. All these elements should paint candidate’s consistent professional picture, rather than giving the impression of a ‘jack-of-all-trades’, making it difficult to identify where their value would be greatest.
What to Check Before Sending Out Another CV
Before sending out another application, it’s worth checking a few things:
- Is your career goal precise enough?
- Do the roles you’ve selected truly match your profile?
- Does your CV highlight your impact and results, or does it mainly list your job responsibilities?
- Does your LinkedIn profile reinforce the same narrative as your CV?
- Do your achievements demonstrate that you can solve problems similar to those a future employer might face?
- Is your strategy based solely on job postings, or does it also include networking, headhunters, and directly reaching out to decision makers?
- Can you clearly articulate your market value?
The last question is particularly important. If the answer is long or vague, a similar issue likely arises in the CV, on LinkedIn, and during interviews. Candidates often view their experience through the lens of years of work, industry knowledge, and scope of responsibilities. But employers see it differently: through the lens of current needs, the risks associated with hiring a particular person, and whether they can quickly understand how the candidate can translate their experience into solutions for their organization’s specific challenges.
Career Angels’ Perspective
Career Angels often works with experienced professionals, managers, and executives who have spent several weeks or months searching for a job without success. Many of them begin to assume that the problem lies in their age, a stagnant job market, overly high financial expectations, or the need to apply for lower-level positions.
Sometimes it really is necessary to reevaluate these assumptions. Very often, however, the first step isn’t to lower one’s ambitions, but to refine one’s strategy. We help identify what is most hindering the process in a given case:
- a career goal that is too broad or unrealistic,
- a CV that fails to highlight a competitive edge,
- a LinkedIn profile that doesn’t enhance visibility,
- overly limited use of job search channels,
- a lack of a strategy for reaching decision makers,
- an insufficiently persuasive way of presenting value during interviews.
This isn’t just a cosmetic tweak to the CV’s formatting. It involves working on how the candidate is perceived by the job market and ensuring that their experience is presented in a way that increases their chances of securing interviews with the right employers.
The Next Step
If you’re sending out your CV and not seeing any results, the problem isn’t always your experience. It may be that the market doesn’t understand your value, doesn’t see the direction you’re heading, or isn’t given a clear enough reason to invite you for an interview.
Contact us at Contact@CareerAngels.eu to schedule a free, confidential Career Consultation. We’ll assess whether your career goal is realistic, whether your CV and LinkedIn profile clearly demonstrate why you’re the right candidate for your target roles, whether you’re using the right job search channels, and what might be preventing you from receiving interview invitations from the right employers.
Since the job market has changed the way candidates are selected, your career strategy also needs to be updated.
PS. Need more flexibility? We also offer paid consultations outside standard business hours, including evenings and weekends, through Booksy.
