250+ job rejections, will I ever get a career?

[throwaway3]

250+ applications, only been shortlisted 5 times. I live in London (moved with hope there would be more job opportunities) and willing to work long hours. Seeing as I will not be able to have kids on my low salary, I can devote more time to any company willing to take a chance on me

Todays rejection came from a company which is very similar to my current employer.

Job ad reqs:
“What we are looking for:
You will be efficient using Microsoft Excel, Word & Outlook.
You will have effective written and verbal communication skills.
An attention to detail and problem-solving skills will be required.
You will be able to work as part of a team both onshore and offshore.”

I met all desirable requirements too. I have 4 years experience in this industry with zero CV gaps. I can only presume this doesn’t matter as meaningful work experience is most important (don’t think recruiters see any value to my experience).

My CV had been read by a friend who works in HR. No obvious errors. Used similar words from ad in application. Of course I still receive rejection email, just like the 250+ other jobs I got rejected from. I’ve only got to interview stage 4 times. It wasn’t always my interview skills to blame as most of them dissolved the role due to budget cuts.

What do I do now… are my expectations too high? I met all requirements though, and normal people like my friends will get shortlisted without meeting all reqs.

I also previously applied for another similar role at this same company and got to final interview stage. Didn’t get it but feedback was positive (perhaps HR just softening the blow) and they said they’d keep my details. How come when I apply this time I get rejected straight away? This has happened at other companies where I’ve been shortlisted the first time, got to interview stage but don’t get it. Then few months later same company advertises a similar role and I’ll get rejected first CV stage. Am I now blacklisted?

& when I reach out to recruitment agencies, it doesn’t matter how big or small they won’t help at all because I presume my work experience is worthless? How do I get work experience that counts for something if no one is willing to give me a chance

I don’t require sponsorship and have a BSc degree. That doesn’t mean much these days, but I know many people with no academic qualifications and requiring sponsorship landing corporate jobs with relative ease.

I already volunteer at my own company but it hasn’t helped improve my prospects. I signed up for a work mentor too, but as kind as she is it’s only very generic advice given.

How else can I change my strategy?

What is the timeframe for your applying to all these 250 jobs? The honest, depressing answer may be that there’s not much wrong - it’s a brutal market. Have you gone back to your university careers office to ask advice on any careers/options you might be missing - and do they have any sort of careers network to tap into? Perhaps you could try another tack for a while - speculative applications, emailing people on LinkedIn who are in companies you’d like to work for to ask for advice, networking events. It’s all a bit random but for certain roles, I suspect that the application function is almost broken - things are going by word of mouth. I am really sorry, it’s tough.

Ps - the issue with the job description you just shared was, sadly, virtually anyone could say how they met those criteria, especially with the support of Chat GPT. You may need to look at skills that would exclude at least some candidates

Do something more left field to get noticed.

Pick a small to midsized and “upcoming” company in the field you want to work in. Research them well, and do something to prove to them that you want to work for them. e.g. if it’s marketing, have 2 dozen donuts delivered along with a marketing prospectus of you (as if you were the product), if it’s programming create an app for them that highlights how great you are … etc. Help them to see that you are committed and a good fit.

Doing that first 4-5 companies has a better chance of success than 100-200 job portal applications

33% getting noticed
33% making it as easy as possible for them to see that you are a fit
33% luck

Thank you
Timeframe is roughly a year
Unfortunately my uni don’t offer guidance or support if it’s been over a year since graduating so I can’t access their services. However, I had used them a lot before. I feel horrible admitting this but I often feared some of their advice was possibly outdated, and overall they didn’t have that much helpful advice really. It was a small uni though, not prestigious at all.

A good idea about messaging people on LinkedIn - thanks. Although I just worry as I’m in old fashioned industry, there’s not really a short cut to jobs as HR still want you to go through multiple stages and interview scoring is quite rigid. Many people at my (well known) company don’t even use LinkedIn for example because sadly networking isn’t that helpful, it’s simply scoring the highest on application stages.

I'm in a similar situation, spoke to a recruiter last week who said that he's receiving hundreds of applications per available role. Even if your CV is viewed, you're then competing against a lot of others. No advice, just solidarity

Gosh it’s so scary :( will the job market ever improve

Best wishes with your hunt!

Please forgive me but i haven't seen what your industry or area of specialism is, so may i ask what experience you hold and in what sector?

Who has reviewed your CV? Do you have an employment gaps on there?

I don't know how tough it is in London but it is quite tough up north too. I do not know if you are applying for jobs where employers see you as over qualified so i think if you give us a bit more info and scope, we can try to help you.

What industry and what level are you applying for?

looking for junior roles in financial services. Open to other industries but I prioritise applying to my current industry to increase chances of getting shortlisted (have 5 years FS experience including industrial placement).

However my current role is probably seen as ‘low skilled’ work according to labour market (junior banking operations). Been in current role for 2.5 years

@littlepigeon34 sorry what do you mean by employment gaps? Is that lack of experience or do you mean CV gaps eg time where I was out of the workplace?

I definitely lack ‘desirable’ skilled experience which can lead to a better job!

Since my third year of university where I did a full time industrial placement, I have consistently been employed within the same industry (financial services). Whilst returning to uni for my final year I was offered part time work with the same FS employer. I then found better paid job with larger employer after graduating. Never been out of work but my experience hasn’t been ‘highly skilled’ enough or enough responsibility to give me prospects.

Do you have a skills based CV?
Look at templates online, if not. Also worth tailoring CV for each role.

Local authorities have lots of stuff related to finance.
I'm also job hunting and it's tedious and frustrating.

I would aim for smaller companies as well, have you sent speculative applications?

I tailor my CV to each role and lately I will also send a message to recruiter on LinkedIn introducing myself and the vacancy I’m interested in (many companies don’t give you an option to add cover letter to application only CV).

I have aimed for smaller companies including start ups in my industry. Sometimes presume some of them have hire freezes or can’t afford to take someone new on. I’m not a student anymore I can’t work for free, sometimes I wish I got more experience as a student but then I remember I still did an industrial placement and worked in industry during final year in a pandemic. Many normal graduates don’t do industrial placements and land career paths easily but seems there’s not anything out there for me

Lots of companies now use software or ai to scan applications and CV's.

It's all about making sure you have the right buzzwords in your CV that they are looking for and will be picked up by their algorithms.

If you check Google you will find examples of this. I can honestly say a small paragraph with all these buzzwords has never failed me yet. I always get through to interview stage and I have had a lot of different jobs in different industries over the years.

Look to volunteer outside of your current company. It gives you a second set of skills to pick evidence from when going for paid roles. Plus broader experience.

Thanks! Always getting through to interview stage is a huge achievement, I presume you have strong experience too?

When I tailor my CV I usually use same key words or phrases as the ones used on the job ad. How do you know which buzzwords the company will be filtering by / won’t it differ

So you’re in banking ops? Do you have a specialism? (Product / business area etc) What’s your actual role? Not much recruitment going on in banking at present so you really need something to offer to be considered as the competition is intense, even for junior ops roles. And obviously a lot of these are under threat by AI. Do you use AI in your current role? For the door to open you really need to show you’re already thinking of the future and how can add value.

Have you looked at moving internally? Or doing a job rotation with your current employer (if they offer them). Most of the banks with hiring freezes are still doing internal moves so might be a way to improve your experience until the external hiring market picks up.

Have a look at “ what color is your parachute” book for advice on approaching firms you might like to work in. Do you have a LinkedIn profile that highlights your skills and experience? Are you updating your ai skills? How good is your network? Can you approach contacts to meet and seek advice?

Hi @HundredMilesAnHour thanks for your message, do you also work in financial services?

I think it would be classed as a specialism (not 100%) but guess the product area is niche, however I’ve used chatgpt few times to help understand what causes my career failure

We use copilot in our team but nothing too advanced

This is what ChatGPT thinks:

• Inside [my company name], [the specialism/ type of…] operations is treated as low-status, disposable
• Outside, recruiters either:
• Don’t understand [specialism] at all, or
• Assume it’s ultra-niche and non-transferable

So you get the worst of both worlds:

• No internal progression
• No external recognition

That is not because you did something wrong. It’s because you landed in a structurally bad lane inside a prestigious institution.”

(I don’t know how accurate that is but from my experience feels like there’s some truth^)

I also asked chatgpt why does it feel like all of my friends so easily end up from starting at similar ‘undesirable’ roles to landing one with prospects. This is what it suggested:
“Most people who “go from low skilled to good jobs” do it via:

• A supportive manager who gives stretch tasks
• An internal move where requirements are relaxed
• Someone taking a punt on them
• Or sheer timing luck (right role, right year)

It looks effortless because it often is opaque and informal, not because they’re better than you.”

^ please note I’m not saying that is entirely the case and my friends are all hard working! Just some interesting perspective from ChatGPT as I can mention my exact role and company

Very few roles internally that are applicable to my grade/scale but anytime one comes up I will always apply even if it’s not an area of interest bc I never know what new skill or connection I could make.

Only 2 relevant roles have come up, the first one I admittedly was too nervous interview so not surprised I didn’t get.
The second I was told it was a very close call and I had impressed them at interview but they went with candidate w more years of experience. However, said they’d consider me for other roles - one at a scale above so very desirable but ended up being dissolved, the other was actually a scale below and would result in a pay cut and involved very very basic responsibility (arguably less than my internship).
In hindsight, I maybe should’ve taken it seeing as who knows that role still could have opened another door despite being grade below but I didn’t think over a year later I wouldn't be offered anything else.

Company does secondments but team manager has to approve decision to release you. Ours has rejected all secondments or even half day shadowing requests saying BAU work takes priority and our workload too high (isn’t that a lack of resourcing / management issue🙄). The company and Hr will encourage personal development but manager is the blocker

Sounds like you need a mentor- is there a structure in your organisation? If not, try and find an influential person you admire and ask if they would be willing to mentor you. How are you developing yourself? Are there any networks in your organisation? Women in finance type things?

@throwaway3 my small bit of advice is opening up opportunities by networking/making more friends, or else aiming to smaller companies and applying directly/sending speculative cvs. My ex had been out of work for several years when we met, applying for so much. Finally he got something but it was via the speculative route. I got him a list of the top 20 companies in his field (smaller) and we tried them all. One replied.

The market has really been brutal these past few years. And it's changed because companies are trying to cut recruitment fees left right and centre. I recently helped a friend get into work after 3 years looking, at my own workplace. Again, I vouched for them and they got the role. Otherwise it would have gone to an agency with hundreds of applicants. Its so much more who you know now.

@throwaway3 yes I’ve worked in FS for many years at various big names and have experience in lots of different areas, including both ops and recruitment.

What strikes me from your posts, and even more so from your ChatGPT response is that it comes across like you’re only seeing things from your perspective rather than from an employer’s perspective too. In a tough job market you need to focus on what you can offer an employer i.e. what’s in it for them rather than what they can do for you. For example, you wrote:

Very few roles internally that are applicable to my grade/scale but anytime one comes up I will always apply even if it’s not an area of interest bc I never know what new skill or connection I could make.

Why are you applying for roles that don’t interest you? This isn’t a networking exercise. And you “never know what new skill” you could develop?! I’m trying not to roll my eyes and appreciate you may find this response harsh but if this is your approach then you’re wasting your time and their time. I recruit for my team (globally) and one of the absolute basics we want to see is that someone is highly motivated by the role and that they can demonstrate that. You’d fail on that straight away.

Do you have a career plan or at least some idea which direction you want to go in? What are you doing about it? As a previous poster mentioned, what self-development are you doing to improve your skills? I’m sure you know but in FS people don’t usually sit on their laurels and it’s essential that you’re proactive in developing yourself. What have you done since you started your current role?

I suspect there may be a few posters rolling their eyes at my post but I’m afraid this is how FS works. You’re expected to be very proactive if you want to progress and if you’re not, this probably isn’t the right industry for you.