Dear Career Coach

I have sent my CV out for literally over a hundred jobs and most of the time I don’t even get an acknowledgement. I have good experience and I know that I’ll be able to handle a lot of different types of jobs. I am sending you my CV, so please tell me what I’m doing wrong!

In a competitive job market, recruiters will receive hundreds of CVs from candidates. To make sure that your application is considered, you have to make sure that you are applying for the right job and in the right way.

Sending out the same CV to over a hundred jobs is very likely a waste of your time and effort, particularly when you say that you have been targeting ‘a lot of different types of jobs’.

If your skills do not meet the majority of the specifications for the job, don’t bother to apply; if you have the essential skills needed, your CV should focus on demonstrating how you have used these skills in your current and/or past roles. Your cover letter can also help to highlight how your skills and experience meet the person specification.

It is a basic rule that your CV should be tailored to match each and every job vacancy that you are applying for. If you are relying on one CV to sell you for a variety of different roles, it is very likely the reason why you are not getting any responses from recruiters.

Having reviewed your CV, you have fallen into the trap of sending a long (5 pages!) document with a list of your job tasks from previous jobs and very little about your achievements. It is also not clear what your intended career direction is and the type of job role that you want your CV to market you for.

Including a short profile statement at the top of your CV will help to describe what you do and the type of role you are seeking.

When describing your job and career achievements, instead of simply listing your job tasks, focus instead on describing specific achievements to help sell you to the recruiter. They want to know what you succeeded in doing, not just what your job description says. Achievement statements make it easy for the recruiter to find the key information they are looking for about your capabilities for the job – if it’s not clear to them immediately, remember that they are skimming through hundreds of CVs so they will spend very little time looking for it.

Do make sure that you proof-read your CV – I noticed a number of typos and this is another reason recruiters don’t call back.

Keep your CV clear, concise and focused on the job you are applying for and hopefully you will not need to send another hundred applications out before you receive the call for an interview!

All the best!