Keep being rejected for jobs

[Keepbeingrejected]

Name changed for this as it doesn't tie in with any previous threads. And I'm prepared to be roasted, but at the same time I feel a bit fragile so don't be too mean please MN ers.

I'm currently on MAT leave from a 45k a year role in hospitality. I can't feasibly return to my role as I have no childcare for evenings and weekends.

So. Mat leave. Perfect time to brush up the CV and find a new role right?

So far I've been rejected from approx 30 roles.

I have years of experience in managing teams, developing and training people, managing financial aspects of business, hitting targets, recruitment etc etc. I also have a background in HR and Payroll.

I've applied for 3 x civil service roles
10 + roles for sales/operations
5 + roles for HR admin work

I'm not precious about coming close to my 45k salary (midlands) as the working hours were always ridiculous, so I am more than happy to take a pay cut to around 24k if I must to find a more 9 to 5 family friendly employer, preferably with scope for progression and development.

I tailor my CV to each application and painstakingly create a cover letter or go through each companies process online. I've had a few phone interviews that I thought I'd done well in, only to be told my application wouldn't be progressing.

Please help me oh MN hive mind. Any tips/advice? Feeling very deflated currently.

I have been on a similar journey, OP. Managed to secure four Civil Service job offers after a barrage of rejections.

My key tips are:

1. Never give up!
2. Never apply for any job with less than 5 vacancies (the odds are just too stacked against you otherwise!)
3. Read the recruitment material very carefully, & use the same kind of words in your statements, ensuring your replies cover every criterion listed.
4. When answering in STAR format - the bulk of your answer should be on A (actions I took) then the R should include reflection (what I would do differently for an even better result) as well as result.
5. At interview show enthusiasm about the job and what you bring to it.

Good luck

Thanks for some great tips here all. I don't have time to reply to individuals but some points I think answers some;

Yes I have run (multi site) restaurants, think area manager role with a small patch.

My CV is grammatically correct etc. And I've only got the reference to hospitality in my employment history, my actual skills, experience etc are the key points, which are (I think) succinct.

I have only done cover letters for the roles that have required it, otherwise I'm tailoring my CV to the individual application, for example picking out key words etc.

Civil service wise, I'm scoring high at above 95% but I think reading some of your comments, I'm not formatting my statement properly so thank you for those who have given some tips there!

Junior roles disadvantage, I do understand entirely a concern from a hiring manager, at an interview I'd happily explain my reasons, if I can just get that far!

Once again thanks all, some really good pointers here 😊

go though a recruitment agency - a good one will take time to tell you if your cv can be impcroved. (not all will, I see some appalling CVs via agencies too).
As a recruiter, I always give quite candid feedback to agencies.
If you know someone appropriate, friend or acquaintance, ask them to appraise your CV,
Think about using an employment coach - if it gets you into work a week sooner, probably a good investment, or you may find that your council or a local charity have "back to work" services that you could use.

Civil service wise, I'm scoring high at above 95% but I think reading some of your comments, I'm not formatting my statement properly so thank you for those who have given some tips there!

What do you mean 95% you get scores up to 7, some do only up to 5. If you score these and couple 6 or 4s you get interview. Do you mean 95% in the tests like situational judgment test, maths and the reading one? You need to look at scores from behaviours and statement

I feel your pain. DS graduated last year and he applied for so many jobs, got a handful of rejections, most vanished without a trace, never heard from them again which is soul destroying when you’ve invested time and energy writing an application. When I was last job hunting, at least most employers sent you a Dear John, but they don’t seem to trouble themselves with that anymore.

I work in local government and I’d recommend you see if your chosen employer has ‘bank staff’, ie an internal temp workforce. It’s a great way of building up skills, experience and contacts.

If you’re applying for a public sector job you need to work through the person spec and state how you meet each criteria by giving examples. it’s quite laborious but the shortlisting manager can’t shortlist someone unless their application has evidence they meet all of the criteria.

and ask everyone you know. DS eventually got a job working at a company a friend of mine works at, it was never even advertised.

hope you get sorted with something soon OP

Civil service seems to be tough at the moment. I’ve struggled to get interviews. They say they don’t give feedback at application stage but a few times I’ve ended up contacting the named person in the advert who has been really helpful and walked me through how to improve. You need to focus on the STAR method methodically and do lots of applications as the process is horribly subjective. (Even though they claim it’s not).

someone on here recommended Jac Williams on YouTube for civil service interview tips. He’s great

If your job can’t be flexible what about DHs job? Could you each try and negotiate some flexibility in both your jobs to share the evenings/weekends?

Always a shame that it seems to fall to the women to put their career and earning potential on hold.

Obvious one but did you make it clear in your covering letter that you were currently on mat leave? Sadly, if so, that will be why. Omit all reference to having children until you have a firm job offer.

Keep going op, it took me a year to secure my new job. I applied for part time junior admin assistant roles and was rejected for all of them. I then applied for a hybrid f/t operations manager job and got it. It doesn't make sense but don't give up hope, keep going.

There are lots of hybrid and remote roles advertised on the site below, I got my job through here.

www.charityjob.co.uk/

Just incase anyone was super invested 🤣 I took some tips from you all, changed the specific field I was applying for, and whilst I haven't made any headway with civil service jobs, I did secure two interviews, with one offering me a role less than 24 hours after my interview. Local, family friendly hours and with a great company, on a salary well above what I thought I would have to drop to to change fields. 🥰
I them received an invite to an interview for my dream job I applied for weeks ago.
Clearly interviews are like buses 👏
Thanks for all the tips and support 😊

Well done!

Been through this recently, after the externally funded local government role I was in lost it's grant.

Definitely look at Local Government, certainly in my area the County Council has dozens & dozens of jobs being advertised at all levels from £19-45k.

Most of the district councils seem to advertise on Jobs Go Public , whereas my County Council advertises all theirs on Indeed which then takes you through to their recruitment portal.

Nice thing about both of those is that they save your details to your user name, so nearly all the tick boxes are already filled in once you've done one application. Then you just have to tailor the personal statement bit to the job spec - ensure you have a response to every single line on the person spec part of this with examples, they prefer a very long statement to a brief one I found out! They do ask for a CV to be uploaded, but none of the recruiting managers I was interviewed by in December had seen it, it was based solely on the application form.

Apply for fixed term contracts, even if they are only for a few months, as once you're in somewhere like a district council you get to hear about all the jobs coming up, you hopefully have a profile in the organisation and are known to people who may be able to put in a good word for you - or even be one of your references!

I interviewed for 6 county council roles and 3 local council roles. Ended one interview early due to a requirement of the role only stated during the interview (must drive their manual vehicle, I have a dodgy left leg), and was offered 3 in the end. Luckily for me, the best of the bunch offered first so I accepted then & there, and had already started by the time the 3rd offer came in!

Good luck, and keep persevering.

It seems soul destroying the first time you are job hunting after many years and both the "overqualified" and age myths are true - try being overqualified and in your 50's job hunting! I have been told bluntly that my previous higher level experiences were why I had been turned down for more than one job, and though it's not officially stated I know many places prefer someone they can mould into exactly what they want so someone young (plus cheaper in minimum wage roles). You even still get people thinking that anyone over about 45-50 will have lost their "zing" and just want to cruise to retirement!