13 Interviews 0 Offers

Sandtree

What it takes is ultimately to be the best person on the day... best is not something that can be accurately defined as what I look for as a hiring manager will be different to what the next person looks for.

As others have said, the market is saturated so agents are getting 500+ applications for each role and there are multiple agents working each role (though inevitably there will be duplication in there). The fact you've had 13 interviews really is an achievement in itself.

You could consider if there is anything you can do to add new skills/learning as another feather in the cap but appreciate finances may not stretch to paying for qualifications right now. Consider if you'd be willing to work further from home or for lower money. On the later point I've been bluntly told that the company is advertising at a realistic normal rate but other candidates are applying at 20% below that in a hope to increase their chances of getting the role... personally I am resisting doing that (and did receive one job offer) but it may be a necessary consideration in the future.

Other than that, just keep at it... its a numbers game ultimately and unsuccessful interviews are still good practice, eventually you'll find a hiring manager who's looking for someone like you. Personally, I'd say I have about a 80% accuracy on if I will get an offer of a job/moved to the next round or not in the first 2 minutes of the interview and before I've even answered a question based on the personality of the hiring manager.

Tahlullah.H

I think a lot depends on what your previous job was and what you are applying for.  If you are applying for jobs which are below what you used to do, then it could be the way you respond.  For example, if you used to be a decision maker and now you are applying for a job as a 'worker', then you could be answering the questions as a 'decision maker', which is not what they want.  They would want someone who demonstrates the ability to follow instruction and speak to management when a decision needs to be made.  If for example, you tell them about 'what you would do', rather than talk about identifying the problem and speaking to management, then this would be enough to make them think you would be difficult to manage.

Good luck with the job seeking, I am certain you will get something soon.

Sandtree

Mr_Maths said:

@Sandtree not sure lowering salary expectations would really work as they'd know I'd be using it as a stepping stone until something that paid what I'm really after came along. That said it would be naive to think they wouldn't pick the candidate who commands the lower salary if they considered 2 candidates equal. 

I agree, it’s a very short term view @Mr_Maths but without doubt what’s being advertised is at reduced rates on average however things are all over the place and there’s the occasional oddly generous salary out there too.

AskAsk

Mr_Maths said:

@Sandtree I'd say most of the jobs I've seen don't advertise salary, sometimes it's hard to tell whether the jobs paying £18k or £80k. 

The competition for jobs is definitely a factor but it isn't always the case. For example I received a rejection email yesterday for a job where I didn't get to the interview stage. I then saw the job posted on one of the boards and in the description it said "This vacancy is being re-advertised, if you applied before you should not apply again". That suggests to me they didn't think any of the applicants were good enough to even interview. I appreciate that they don't want to give the job to just anyone, but there are a lot of talented people in my line of work who are unemployed and looking for work, if none of us are good enough then the candidate they're looking for probably doesn't exist.

i found this in my area of work.  they look for a very specific person and it can take a long time to find that person with the exact skills and experience.  it is not about how capable, how bright a candidate is, it is about a particular experience and skill that they were looking for.  sometimes the jobs never get filled because they can't find that person.

this is why some employers use recruitment agents to headhunt as they know who they want but that person is not looking for a job at that time.

apparently there are lots of posts that never get filled because the employer can't find the right candidate.

AskAsk

Mr_Maths said:

@AskAsk you don't happen to be a data analyst do you? It's true, some people are looking for very specific experience when it's like rejecting a bus driver because they haven't driven their bus down a specific road. 

i am an analyst, but not a data analyst.  i am a systems analyst but i have specific experience in finance so i worked with financial software.  finding someone with experience in finance who is also IT capable is not easy.

HpXp

Hi Mr Maths, I'm a contractor data analyst with experience in Banking/Consultancy sector but I've been out of contract since end of March. I had two interviews a few weeks ago (I was unsuccessful) but no calls since. I think I've only had 3 calls from recruiters this whole lockdown.

Ella_fella

You need to keep plugging away you are doing something right if you're generating that number of interviews in the first place.
Interviews are a lot down to practice and experience unfortunately you need to listen to the feedback given which is valuable in itself and act upon it. Some companies wouldn't even bother giving you that.

I've had 4 interviews over the past month as found myself out of work and was offered a job out of 3 of them, one of which had a two part assessment centre. Stay positive it will happen.

srpsrp

That's a hard lesson with job searching, you only need to be second best out of 30 candidates and you don't get the job !
I went into work from school and never really had to try hard to get a job for 20 years. Can't say I've ever really got into the mind set of competing for a job but that's what it takes these days I guess. Even before COVID there just were no full time jobs in my area so I'm not sure it's really made that much difference to me. It seems you have to go through the 0 hours/ Part time hoop now, but unfortunately that's quite a lot of hassle for not a lot more money than benefits.

AskAsk

Mr_Maths said:

@srpsrp the hard lesson for me was when I graduated with a maths degree having been led to believe employers were crying out for maths graduates. Instead of having a queue of people lining up to offer me a job, I was being told I didn't have the skills to do basic office jobs because I didn't have experience. I learned how to write complex formulas in Excel at university, but because I hadn't used Excel in the workplace I didn't have the skills to type a few things into a spreadsheet allegedly.

so what is your profession Mr Maths?

tazwhoever

How do unemployed people occupy their time?
I feel very sad for people who have lost their jobs, depression, lack of motivation kicks in, etc.
I was reading unemployment and suicide do have a link. 
I hope OP and those looking for a suitable positions find one.