Making the extra effort to stand out from the crowd when you apply for a job really does work. Want proof? Well here it is.
At Inspire HQ in May we advertised for an Administration Assistant for a local small business. It was a part time position with flexible hours which meant the hours could be worked within school hours. We knew it would generate a lot of interest. Positions with this kind of flexibility don’t come along every day. We received 245 applications, 7 of those were received after the application deadline.
Even for a part time flexible vacancy that’s a lot of applications. When you are up against 244 other candidates how on earth are you supposed to stand out from the crowd? Especially when based on the stats, a recruiter makes a judgement on your application in 7 seconds.
Think you have no chance when you have that kind of competition? Why waste your time applying when there is that many other job seekers to contend with? What hope do you have? How can you stand out from 244 other applications by the resume and covering letter you submit?
Actually it’s pretty easy when you take a look at the stats.
Here is where 69.8% of these 245 job seekers went wrong:
- We stated in the job advert that to apply you needed to submit a covering letter and resume. Of the 245 applications received, 78 applications did not submit a covering letter. That’s 31.84% of candidates who did not follow the instructions.
- 167 candidates submitted a covering letter however, 13 of those people incorrectly referenced the wrong position or referenced the wrong industry in their covering letter. For example they were generic looking covering letters that stated something like “I am seeking a position within the hospitality industry where I can continue to develop my skills.” This was an administration role and was with a civil construction/earth moving company and this information was detailed in the job advert. These 13 candidates were ruled out for their lack of attention to detail and lack of effort.
- 36 candidates, all who applied through seek.com didn’t bother to write a proper covering letter. Instead they typed a few sentences into the seek.com cover letter text box instead of uploading a covering letter as a document. This would be ok if the candidates actually wrote a proper covering letter in to the text box instead of a few basic sentences. This to me demonstrates a lack of genuine interest and effort. It’s also worth noting that if you are applying through Indeed you don’t even have the option to upload a separate covering letter. If you think this lets you off the hook think again, it’s not hard to add a covering letter to your Resume and upload them as one document.
- A further 24 candidates referenced a different industry or position in the career objective section of their resume. For example they stated they were interested in gaining a position as a Retail Assistant or a Waitress or furthering their career in the hospitality industry or in a call centre environment. Sorry which job are you applying for?
- 14 candidates didn’t provide any detail in their resume about their employment history. They simply stated the position titles they had held previously but provided no detail about their responsibilities. Why does this even matter? The recruiter wants to understand your skills and experience; to really sell yourself for the role you need to demonstrate your skills and experience. Recruiters are not mind readers; a customer service officer in a call centre performs very different tasks to a customer service officer in a local government environment yet they have the same position title. Don’t make the recruiter guess your skills and expertise. For one we don’t have the time, we have another 244 applications to read and two, the chances of us guessing your specific responsibilities in the context of your workplace is simply taking a stab in the dark. Promote what you have to offer and the experience you bring.
- 6 candidates applied but did not submit a covering letter or a resume, instead they wrote a few sentences in the notes section of their online application. Yes you read that right. Not sure how they thought they would have any chance of getting the job but maybe they had no real interest from the start. Maybe they just needed to meet their application quota for the month.
Shortlisting candidates based on these 6 criteria meant we ruled out 171 candidates. That’s 69.8% of the applications that were ruled out because they couldn’t follow instructions, didn’t make an effort to tailor a document and demonstrated poor attention to detail. All pretty important skills if you are an Administration Assistant.
So we were left with 74 applications to consider. Of that 74 only 57 applications actually made the effort to personally address their application to myself (as the contact person on the advert), to Inspire HQ or to the company the position was with. The other applications were addressed generically “To whom it may concern”
Still think the competition is pretty stiff when applying for a job? It’s the simple things that can make you stand out from the crowd. It’s really not that hard; it just takes a little extra time and effort. If you make the effort and dedicate the time; it will show through to the recruiter.
And the candidate that was successful in gaining the position; she submitted a covering letter and resume. The covering letter was personally addressed to me, exactly like a professional business letter. Her resume was appropriately detailed, it was 2 pages long and listed her responsibilities in each of her previous positions. Both documents were professionally presented and formatted. Her covering letter summarised her relevant skills and experience for the position as well as detailing her motivations for applying for the position.
Need some more advice on how you can stand out from the crowd? You may like to check out some of my previous blogs, it’s a topic I’m passionate about and regularly write about. Good luck standing out from the crowd!
- 6 reasons why you can’t get a job
- Job Application Etiquette
- Writing a winning resume
- How to get noticed in 7 seconds
- Win your way to an interview
