There's so many candidates for every job

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My partner is trying to apply for a new job. We live in NI. Anytime he sees anything suitable on LinkedIn etc there are always hundreds of applicants. He works in IT ( senior position) so can work remotely but he can't seem to even get an interview despite having a a brilliant CV and experience.

Is anyone else finding this?? Have you any advice ? He's tried contacting the advertising companies directly but still nothing. Help

We get a lot of visa chancers applying for jobs actually on LinkedIn, like 95%. He's better to search on LinkedIn but actually on the company website/direct to recruiter.

How do he know there's hundreds of applicants? I think it's better to apply directly with companies rather than via LinkedIn or agencies.

Yeah how does he know? If people click on ‘apply for job’ then they don’t necessarily apply.

Oh that's interesting to hear. He gets so deflated when there are hundreds of applications after a few hours.

I thought job changing was a relatively easy process but DP wouldn't agree with me on that. His types of jobs seem harder to sort

I suppose he just assumes that they do- is that not always the case

Because if you look on LinkedIn, it states how many people have already applied for that advertised position

App linked in number of applicants is just the number of people who have clicked apply not the number of people who have actually submitted an application! Lots of people will click in just to see the application.

I would suggest using a specialist recruiter for his industry, they will have a better insight into the roles and what the company are looking and roles his skills would be suited to. They do torture you a bit but if he’s genuinely looking to move they can be very good

DH works in IT and he says similar to PPs- on LinkedIn most of the applications are useless (not as in just bad candidates but none of the specified quals etc). Although the job market is tough in many sectors currently don't let the big numbers on linkedin shake his confidence! It's typically not a great time of year either, not many places initiate vacancies in the run up to Christmas break.

Wishing him luck, I'm sure with a decent CV he will find something even if it takes a while.

Thanks for your response. I'll definitely pass this on to encourage him. I had also said ( and he agreed) Xmas is a bad time to apply but to keep putting cv in where you can.

Absolutely this. I've recruited for senior / leadership tech roles on LinkedIn. For every 100 candidates, I'd estimate that 75 are utter chancers - absolutely zero relevant experience and/or not UK based and no right to work on the UK. Another 20 might have vaguely relevant experience, but are clearly just spamming every job they see and if I actually follow up with them they often have no recollection of even applying and are unable to demonstrate genuine interest in working for us. The final five will show some potential, and if I'm really lucky, one or two might stand out as genuinely exciting candidates.

I think the market for applicants has got tougher since we last hired last year, and I'm sorry that your DH hasn't had any luck so far. But honestly, tell him not to be put off by the applicant numbers.

Having been on the other end of the process, my advice to him would be to make sure his CV is super clean and concise and covers both his tech skill set and his leadership and management experience in clear, outcome focused language that plays back the language in the job ad. Best of luck to him.

We recently advertised on our website and LinkedIn and had 200 applications!

I definitely paid more attention to the people who had applied via our website so I'd definitely advise he doesn't do it via LinkedIn if the job application is available on the company's website too.

Also - from the recruitment side on LinkedIn it can quickly get really overwhelming to filter the possible applicants from the sea of spamming chancers. In this situation I'd welcome a short InMail message from a candidate reaffirming their interest in the role in a way that makes it clear that they've got at least half an idea who we are and what we do. Assuming that the candidate met the requirements for the role, that would probably ensure I long listed them. I don't like being hassled though, so one message only and then leave the ball in their court.

Also - I can't speak for other bigger companies, but as a SME with no in house HR we have to do everything ourselves and the process isn't perfect. I'm sure there are times when I've missed good candidates.

Well does he? 😊

If you see a job on linked in, I often click through, to see if there is more info.

Do recruiters operate in his market? I’m in a senior role and would never expect to get a job by applying for it - I would either go through a recruiter or my professional network.

We're getting 90 odd applications on even entry level admin jobs, many of which are from Nigeria and Pakistani.

Try a recruitment agency. Ds1 struggled to find a job when he first graduated despite having a very good degree from a top uni and a masters. We advised him what to do (register with an agency) and didn't take it on board, but he did finally give in and registered with a graduate agency. He had a few interviews and landed a good job within 10 days. He's still there over two years later.

The LinkedIn data isn't accurate. I had a role advertised that said it had X number.of applications but only a percentage of those actually finished and submitted an application to us.

Hi OP we’re in NI, I agree with pp re LinkedIn but wanted to say there are a few big companies recruiting at the moment here. Sensata technologies & Randox Laboratories tell your DH to have a look at those. Also it would be better to use a recruiter or NI jobs website is much better and professional in terms of their actual roles.

I work in HR and we use LinkedIn a lot. Firstly, those number of applicants figures are bollocks. It's just the number of people that have clicked the apply button but probably two thirds don't actually progress and submit a whole application.

Secondly, if he finds a job on LinkedIn it is worth going directly to the company website and seeing if they have their own jobs page with links on how to apply on there. Often that can work better if companies are sifting through hundreds of nonsense applications on LinkedIn.

Which brings me onto my third point. We get tonnes of irrelevant applications for IT roles. Usually from Pakistan, India and Nigeria and very often the same individuals just repeatedly send out job applications for any role at all.

Tell him not to give up hope. A direct email if he can find the HR team/hiring manager's email address giving a bit of info about himself and asking for some more information about the role can often work wonders.

As an employer, the last time I advertised on LinkedIn, I received 82 applications for one job, and only two of them were reasonable applicants.

Many of them were overseas people who were just looking for a visa, and some were UK applicants who were just showing the job centre that they were trying. None of them had the relevant experience.

I got two decent applicants from LinkedIN and four from an agency. We employed one of the LinkedIn applicants and he's still with us 9 month later.

Have you checked your dh's cv? Does he tailor a covering letter for every job?

Fantastic advise , thanks so much!!! Taken all onboard xxx

Yes if I ever see a job advertised on LinkedIn I just go to the company website and try to apply there. Often the same job will be advertised through multiple websites. I think it’s worth registering with recruitment agencies too as they will often hear of new roles before anyone else.