Why Are You Not Getting Enough Job Interviews?

Job interviews are important because they allow the interviewer to gain a more in-depth understanding of your professional skills and allow you to learn more about the role and the company. Despite its importance, some people may hardly get an interview even after submitting many applications. If this has been your experience, you may need to consider the following before applying again. Because without fully understanding what might have gone wrong, you may make the same mistake again.

 

1. Is your CV strong enough?

If you are applying for an experienced hire job, the hiring manager or recruiter often decides whether to invite you to an interview or not based on your CV along with your eligibility. On average, any given job position in the market may receive 20-30 applications. Some popular roles even receive more than 100 applications, meaning you will be competing with many other people. If your CV is not strong enough, your application can be rejected. So you should forget about having an OK or substandard CV and getting countless interview invitations.

For most student and graduate jobs, you often apply through companies’ websites, and they may or may not require a CV. If they require one, you may face the same challenge. If they do not require a CV, you may be asked to complete a series of online assessments before you are invited to an interview.

If your CV concerns you or does not know how to write one, you can read our guidance or attend our CV writing workshop.

 

2. Do you have the skills and experience required?

People often believe that they should meet all skills and experience requirements on the job description to be able to apply for that role. It is not correct. In fact, very few people can tick all the boxes. There is a 60% rule which says you should still apply for a job if you meet at least 60% of the requirements. For example, if there are ten different skill and experience requirements in the job description, you should meet at least six of them to stand a better chance of getting an interview. For many people, the reason for not getting an interview can be not having the required experience and skills. If you think you do not meet most of their requirements, you can still apply, but you should not have high hopes that you will hear back from them.

If this has been the case for you and you are very keen to apply for that specific role, you can work to improve or develop your skills and gain the required experience before re-applying. However, if you do not want to wait and are flexible in what you want to do, you can search for more jobs and only apply for those that better match your experience.

 

3. Do you meet the eligibility requirements?

Eligibility requirements are different from requirements for skills and experience. While not meeting all requirements for skills and experience may still get you an interview, if you do not meet the eligibility criteria, your application can often be rejected.

The most common eligibility requirement for student and graduate jobs is a degree. As you may have seen in job descriptions, most companies require students or graduates to have at least a university degree. Some of them go a little further and ask you to achieve specific grades like 2:1. If you do not meet this requirement, your application will be rejected, and you will not be invited to an interview.

If you are applying for an experienced hire job, though being a degree holder can still be a criterion, you are often not required to have achieved specific grades because skills and experience are more important than your grades at this stage.

There are some other essential eligibility requirements, such as being able to speak fluent English and holding a valid work permit. For example, if you apply for a job that does not provide work visa sponsorship and you need a work visa to work in the UK, you will not get an interview. There is nothing much you can do when you do not meet the eligibility criteria. You should search for another job or broaden your search to find positions that you can meet the eligibility requirements. Therefore, if you need a work visa, you should focus on applying for jobs on UK Visa Jobs, where most jobs provide work visa sponsorship.

 

4. Are you applying for enough jobs?

Without sufficient job applications, you will not receive enough interview invitations, especially when you need visa sponsorship. Often, visa-sponsored jobs are very competitive, meaning that in addition to locals, people from other countries will also apply for the same job. It is highly likely that someone else who possesses the same skills as yours is also applying for the same job. If that person has a better education or experience, they may be invited for an interview. It is important to keep going and apply for more jobs. The more you apply, the higher the chance of hearing back regarding your job application.

Apart from the three main reasons mentioned above, there can be many other reasons for not getting an interview. Sometimes, it can be a matter of luck. For example, occasionally, companies still advertise jobs that have already been offered to someone else. In this case, submitting an application is just a waste of time. But it is frustrating enough that companies never tell you the role has already been offered to someone else, and they are just advertising it to comply with some company rules. Also, job application is a long process; it may take months to get an interview and, eventually, a job offer.

If you do not get enough interviews or do not get an interview at all, take some time to reconsider your current approach and find out what has been going wrong. Without going through and successfully completing at least one interview, you usually cannot secure a job offer from any company.

It can be disappointing not to get an interview. However, it is very important to stay positive and keep applying. When applying for your next job, avoid making the same mistakes. Sometimes, it can also be a number game, and you may need to apply for 100+ jobs with a good strategy to get enough interviews and secure a job offer in the UK.