Many jobseekers bemoan the lack of positive responses they receive from prospective employers despite sending out application after application. As jobseekers very rarely hear why an application wasn’t successful, they put their failure to secure an interview down to all manner of things, from not having the necessary experience to not attending the right university. However, in reality, the primary reason why candidates are not successful is because they do not have the necessary qualifications, experience and skills to apply for the job in the first place.
One of the most common misconceptions that jobseekers have is how closely their qualifications must match the requirements of a job for them to feel like they can apply. The similarity between the skill, experience and qualifications listed in the job description and those of an individual lie on a spectrum, and all too often candidates fall too far on either side of where they should be.
The two types of jobseeker
When it comes to having the necessary qualifications and experience to apply for a role, there are two different applicant types:
• The sprayers and prayers – These jobseekers haphazardly apply for every job they feel they are the least bit qualified for in the belief that the more applications they send out, the better their chances will be. By some counts, this type of applicant can account for 75 percent of the CVs that are submitted for a role. By trying to be all things to everybody, these jobseekers essentially sabotage their own job search by not dedicating the necessary time to completing applications for the roles they are qualified for.
• The play-it-safers – At the opposite end of the spectrum are those jobseekers who only apply for a role when their qualifications and experience match nearly all of a job description’s requirements. Taking this approach can severely limit the number of jobs they apply for, particularly if they live in areas where jobs are few and far between. That shallow pool of potential jobs can prolong their job search and increase the pressure when they apply for a role that is a good match.
Finding the middle ground
The solution is to land somewhere between the two, where you meet some but not all of a job’s requirements. A study of over 6,000 job applicants found that for the best chance of success over the longer term, your skills, experience and qualifications should match 50 percent of the requirements listed in the job description. Any lower than that and the applicants were less likely to land an interview; any higher than that and their chances did not increase.
What does that mean for you as a jobseeker?
Even if you don’t exactly match the requirements of a job, you can still apply and have a reasonable chance of success as long as you have half of the skills, experience and qualifications the employer is looking for. As a simple rule of thumb, if you feel reasonably confident that you’d be able to perform well in the job, you should apply. If you’re unsure, the likelihood is you will not be called for an interview, and if you are, it will provide the perfect opportunity to find out a little more about the role.
Bilingual positions for UK jobseekers
At Linguistica Recruitment, we have a range of bilingual roles for talented jobseekers across the south of England. If you’d like to know more about any of our vacancies, including the requirements you must meet, please do not hesitate to contact our team. Call us on 02392 987 765 or email info@linguistica-recruitment.com today.