Why is it so hard to get a job? (and how to get one)

If you are trying to get a job in 2022 you will realise that it is so hard. Competition and limited amount of workforce (especially if you are looking a new job in tech where there is a lot of competition but at the same time a lot of ways to build your resume and your projects to shine and win) make the situation even more difficult and thus looking for a job in 2022 is one of the most hard things to do.

According to data insights from TopResume the average job search may take somewhere around five to six months from the time someone submits an application until the hiring manager or a recruiter announces that he will be hired by the company. Prior to the pandemic, the BLS numbers showed that the average search took roughly five months, so it is reasonable to assume that 2022 will look more like 2019.

Let's see some reasons why is it so hard to get a job:

You are not using networking platforms

It's not a secret that about 60-80% of all the job openings are not advertised. These are jobs offered to people who are well connected and mainly filled by referral.

That's why being social and building a network is very important if you want to find your next role

Start following interesting profiles on social media, start chatting with people that do cool things and you never know how you will find your next job.

You're changing jobs frequently

If you have multiple jobs on your CV and a recruiter can see that you didn't spend a long time in your previous job, then it is a sign that you are a job hopper, and you change different jobs. This showcases an instability and a lack of research and understanding for the job and company requirements from your side.

Another point here is that recruiters might think that you get bored easily and quickly and thus it is a signal or a risk for them to hire someone that could leave in one year (since the hiring process costs thousands of euros/dollars to the company and thus making a good hiring decision is very important)

You're not applying for the right jobs

If you have a great CV for software engineer and you start applying for a lawyer guess what it will happen! You will not get a job.

Finding the right job based on your CV and your skill set is very important. It doesn't mean that you can't change career path (for example moving from a software engineering job to a product manager role) but if you want to change career path it should be crystal clear to the recruiter why your profile and your skill set is the ideal for them to hire you (for example if in your previous job you had a specific experience of managing team members and leading a project then you have to showcase this in order to allow the recruiter of a company to see your value and how you can fulfil with the job requirements.

To summarise, the more targeted your job application, the more likely you will get the job. You won't get hired as a software engineer if your resume screams salesperson.

That said, sometimes you want to make a career move. How do you execute it?

You profile is not qualified or educated for the job

A company might reject your application because you lack specific education or qualification criteria. In most of the cases there are minimum requirements in terms of high school diploma,  college degree, specific certification and so on.

If that's the case you should make sure that you qualify a specific job before

Other companies want you to have certain hard skills or certifications before they make a bet on you.

You're overqualified for a job

When you are applying for a job that requires a high school for example, if you have a master's degree then this job might not be a good fit for you. Why? The company will prefer to hire someone with a more limited set of skills (if these skills can be sufficient for the job) in order to pay less amount on money.

You're not good at interviewing

Interviewing is a skill (like all the skills out there). The more you prepare and practising it (or read about it) the better you'll get at presenting yourself, asking the right questions and engage with the recruiter during the interview. You probably make many mistakes you're not even aware of.

Click the link here to get improved in interviews: https://www.carrus.io/?via=6fb2ca

Your resume is not good enough (check how to improve it)

This is a pretty common mistake that we see at Loopcv. Resumes that are either very big or use very ugly fonts and have a lot of grammar mistakes or missing important keywords.

What is important to remember here is that most of the companies use ATS systems  in order to evaluate and filter candidates. If you don't have the right keywords in your resume guess what! You will not even manage to reach a human (an ATS is simply a robot that checks your CV and decides whether it makes sense a recruiter to check your resume and define the next steps)

To solve this problem you can use Loopcv, to help you identify all these issues in your CV and help you land your dream job!

You can signup today here: https://www.loopcv.pro/stats/

Let's check some other important questions here:

How many days does the interview process take?

You can expect that the interview process takes between two to three weeks and in some cases it can go up to five weeks. The interview process depends a lot on the organisation or the company that you applied for. Some companies have a very strict interview process, requiring 3-5 interviews and in some cases require an on-site visit before they make their final decision.

What can you do to speed up the process and get a job?

In some cases not a lot. You can followup with the hiring manager or the recruiter but you don't want to over-spam them. The only way that you can practically speed up the process is to have multiple interviews in parallel with different companies

Why?

Because you will be able to open multiple opportunities and try to see which one will convert (which is the same practice that sales people do using CRM tools to track their progress)

This is why you need a tool like Loopcv to help you create a structure in your process and help you organise your job search