If you’ve seen a role being advertised, you might be thinking, ‘excellent – I’ll apply directly to give me the best possible chance!’ But, does it?
In one sense, we can of course completely understand the desire for businesses to advertise directly and handle the process. Even though, it can cost businesses a huge amount of precious hours and therefore money. But what we hear, time and time again, is how many good quality candidates are ‘missed’ in the process, whilst so much time is being spent vetting the tens (sometimes hundreds!) of applications.
And, this is where it impacts on you – the candidate. How do you stand out from the crowd and make yourself seen and heard? How do you ensure your skills really do shine above the others? What if the hiring manager has got caught up and distracted – or worse, in some sort of technical glitch, your CV/application hasn’t actually reached them? It’s very common these days to see ‘only successful applicants will be contacted’. So, truthfully, you may never know whether you just weren’t successful, or your application has disappeared into the abyss!
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard candidates say that they have already applied for a job – only for me to speak to the hiring manager and discover that they’ve never seen their CV – and that can obviously be for a number of reasons, but never the less, we’ve successfully got that candidate an interview because we are able to talk about you, directly, explaining any initial queries the hiring manager might have and most importantly, talking about what we know about you – professionally and personally too. We have taken time understanding the business with the vacancy, the team, the structure, the approach. We understand if this business will be right for you too, not just the other way around.
If you are searching for a new role, it’s also crucial – and fair – that you get feedback. If you aren’t, you are being denied the opportunity to improve. How are you ever going to know whether your CV really does need improving, or perhaps need to re-think your career path? Are you missing out on other fantastic opportunities whilst stuck in the application process for the one you think sounds ideal?
If you get to know a dedicated recruitment consultant, no one is better placed than them to put you forward in the best possible way. To demonstrate to the hiring manager exactly why we believe in you. Why you really are a great match. We can do what no bit of paper or virtual application can do. We’ll share the feedback we get and we can discuss ways with you to move forward positively.
Despite technology advancing all the time, there are times when the human touch is needed. This is one of them.
