How is anyone moving jobs with 400 applicants per role?
Discussion
Hi All,
I ve decided it s time to move jobs. So having taken advice from a few recruiters I polished up my CV, I ve been told it s good. Right structure, style, keywords etc. I work at a very well known brand and have some good previous jobs on my CV, so hopefully credibility is there too.
I signed up for a months free LinkedIn premium which is telling me that most of the jobs I m applying for have something like 400 applicants.
Needless to say I ve had the odd rejection letter(automated) and that s about it other than a few replies when the company was just so dull - cattle food most recently.
What hope is there?
As a side note, I just looked at a role at Shell. 610 applicants, 48% were from the same job title already, 300 ish people in a similar role already looking to move.
1160 at another role!
I ve decided it s time to move jobs. So having taken advice from a few recruiters I polished up my CV, I ve been told it s good. Right structure, style, keywords etc. I work at a very well known brand and have some good previous jobs on my CV, so hopefully credibility is there too.
I signed up for a months free LinkedIn premium which is telling me that most of the jobs I m applying for have something like 400 applicants.
Needless to say I ve had the odd rejection letter(automated) and that s about it other than a few replies when the company was just so dull - cattle food most recently.
What hope is there?
As a side note, I just looked at a role at Shell. 610 applicants, 48% were from the same job title already, 300 ish people in a similar role already looking to move.
1160 at another role!
Edited by 8-P on Saturday 14th June 20:11
Edited by 8-P on Saturday 14th June 20:12
I have been told that anyone who clicks apply on LinkedIn is recorded as an applicant whether they complete the application or not
But the responses from employers at the moment is appalling poor. I have been looking on a casual basis for senior-ish roles in FM (Technical Director etc) and only apply for roles that fit with my current experience level, I m not interested in trying to progress my career any further now. The majority of applications get no response sadly
But the responses from employers at the moment is appalling poor. I have been looking on a casual basis for senior-ish roles in FM (Technical Director etc) and only apply for roles that fit with my current experience level, I m not interested in trying to progress my career any further now. The majority of applications get no response sadly
On a similar note, the media often uses "applications per role" as i way to distort the facts.
So they will say "400 applications for every role advertised", giving the impression there's 1 job and 400 people wanting it.
But, say, 400 jobs available and 400 people, each person applies for all 400 jobs, so yes, its true each job has had 400 applications, but it does not mean 400 people chasing 1 job. It means 400 people chasing 400 jobs.
So they will say "400 applications for every role advertised", giving the impression there's 1 job and 400 people wanting it.
But, say, 400 jobs available and 400 people, each person applies for all 400 jobs, so yes, its true each job has had 400 applications, but it does not mean 400 people chasing 1 job. It means 400 people chasing 400 jobs.
Strange times. As an employer of a large number of IT professionals, we get hundreds of applications from people who are clearly not qualified. Their CVs are written with AI, and some of the people we interview (using Teams) use AI during interview to answer questions. It s a waste of everyone s time.
Don’t be put off if you are genuinely good at your job. Provide specific examples of experience and get a friendly recruiter who’s prepared to promote you. Also use your network. LinkedIn is a more rubbish version of Facebook, it’s not a place to find a job imho.
Don’t be put off if you are genuinely good at your job. Provide specific examples of experience and get a friendly recruiter who’s prepared to promote you. Also use your network. LinkedIn is a more rubbish version of Facebook, it’s not a place to find a job imho.
Edited by Len Clifton on Sunday 15th June 09:18
snuffy said:
On a similar note, the media often uses "applications per role" as i way to distort the facts.
So they will say "400 applications for every role advertised", giving the impression there's 1 job and 400 people wanting it.
But, say, 400 jobs available and 400 people, each person applies for all 400 jobs, so yes, its true each job has had 400 applications, but it does not mean 400 people chasing 1 job. It means 400 people chasing 400 jobs.
This.So they will say "400 applications for every role advertised", giving the impression there's 1 job and 400 people wanting it.
But, say, 400 jobs available and 400 people, each person applies for all 400 jobs, so yes, its true each job has had 400 applications, but it does not mean 400 people chasing 1 job. It means 400 people chasing 400 jobs.
When I first went contracting I would apply for about 10 jobs a day. Maybe 3 were a good fit but the rest were just a shotgun approach to picking up work.
It took me a couple of months to get my first job, so possibly 3-400 applications made.
The issue is that many press the AI button and tweak the CV to match the job. You need to make sure your CV is correctly formatted so that the application matches when some AI analysis is done. I often send the CV and try and ping the recruiter with a question.
I did send many with a CV writer who did a great and has been well worth every penny.
I did send many with a CV writer who did a great and has been well worth every penny.
I think if you’re not following up your application with email/linkedIn note to the hiring manager/recruiting team then you’re not getting a look in.
Hitting apply and hoping to hear back I think is dead in the water for most people as an approach these days.
The other and far more likely route in is via referral, our company hires somewhere in the region of 65% of people via staff referral.
Hitting apply and hoping to hear back I think is dead in the water for most people as an approach these days.
The other and far more likely route in is via referral, our company hires somewhere in the region of 65% of people via staff referral.
I begin to wonder how many of the applications are just spam and that genuine applicants get lost in the noise and filtered out by the systems employed, whatever advantage people think they are gaining by using automation in this manner they will be losing on the other side of the equation.
The only way to stand out is to get on the phone and get hold of the hiring managers directly, they might get 500 applicants digitally but I very much doubt they get more than a handful of people calling them up directly.
It seems to work the other way round as well with agencies. So in the past, they would get a role, then actually read registered CVs, then ring up potential candidates.
But now, they just fire out a 1000 emails that say "sorry if this is not relevant to you, but we have .....". Or "we have done a keyword search and your CV looks like a potential match". Really, what keyword did you use, the letter "a" ?
But now, they just fire out a 1000 emails that say "sorry if this is not relevant to you, but we have .....". Or "we have done a keyword search and your CV looks like a potential match". Really, what keyword did you use, the letter "a" ?
t against the wall strategy, zero insight, zero added value, although I've never used a recruiter in 25 years of being a hiring manager always either internal or external though contacts and recommendations. How do people get hold of hiring managers?
It’s not always easy to work out who the hiring manager is even by using LinkedIn
Getting hold of anyone in a big plc is virtually impossible at the best of times
Also, what do you say if you do get hold of them? Are you just saying you’ve applied and that you wanted to introduce yourself
It’s not always easy to work out who the hiring manager is even by using LinkedIn
Getting hold of anyone in a big plc is virtually impossible at the best of times
Also, what do you say if you do get hold of them? Are you just saying you’ve applied and that you wanted to introduce yourself
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