"we recieved over 300 applications...."

[cigarsmokingwoman]

just got a job rejection with that statement within it.

What chance do I have in this current climate? Everyone is being made redundant and competing for the same jobs. My area of expertise is one that has been particularly hard hit of late so clearly everyone with my type of skill set is competing with me. I do have other qualifications that I've been busy obtaining so I can diversify, but its still upsetting to get an email like that when I hiad spent time tailoring the CV and I am deliberately only applying for jobs where I feel I am a strong candidate. It completey sucks and scares me as I only have 3 montsh notice and what if I dont find anything by then? I have disabilities too so even less of an attractive candidate to employers.

Sorry just wanted to get it off my chest.

Budge up and I’ll sit with you
also disabilities, also being made redundant and also worrying (single earner)

Yes it isnt great. My dh has regularly been made redundant over the past 14 years. He has always got something else within 3 months but the amount of companies who dont even let you know you havent got the job after an interview is appalling.

the last job i interview for I didnt get, but the feedback was I was the strongest candidate (and was detailed about why) but they wanted a young person straight out of training. I said i dont know what to do with feedback that essentially said i was too old at 42.

keep applying for everything.

Did you get an interview for the job with 300 applications?

I’ve been unemployed now for 9 months. I’m highly skilled and have only had interviews for 3 jobs out of 100s of applications. It’s severely depressing.

Hi OP, I think your're being really realistic in considering the worst now - before your 3 months is up. My partner was made redundant last year, only a months notice, highly skilled, usually has several job offers within weeks, but this time we're onto 6 months and nearly out of savings.

Keep applying for jobs but also use your 3 months to get everything in place for another stream of income via a side gig.. ie... can you offer any services on 5er (admin, design, editing, etc), can you do 'gig economy' jobs like amazon deliveries or taxi driver, can you persuade your company to pay for additional qualifications as part of your redundancy package, can you use your redundancy package to buy an item people would want to hire, or create a service people would hire you to do (like jet washing, cutting lawns, tutoring, dog walking, pet sitting, gardening, etc etc..), can you set up a 'print on demand' business

Lots of options but they require a little time and money investment so better to do now while you're still employed. My partner recently managed to get a few of the above underway and starting is to bring in a (very small) amount - its still a hit to his ego and our budget, but at least theres an income again while he continues the job hunt..

Use it for a discrimination claim?

Ugh can I join? Trying to get out of being stuck in my side-gig after I lost my main job due to a long-distance move. I need to get into a new job, and I just get rejection after rejection. Compare that to 2023 when I applied for 5 jobs and got interviews for 3 and offers for 2. It feels like a different world. DH just lost his job as well, so now we're completely fucked. What's making it worse is a well-meaning relative who knows the situation keeps sending us really useless, unhelpful job adverts for things we aren't qualified in e.g. language translation.

No I didn't get an interview.

@DorothyStorm definitely go for age discrimination! Speak to ACAS or your union if you're in one.

Getting 300 applications for a job isn't new - it's been like that for years. We noticed a big increase in applications when the benefits rule changed, so that jobseekers now have to prove they are applying for a certain number of jobs a week. That means people just apply for anything, whether they are remotely suitable or not!

The only thing I can recommend is to make sure that you clearly indicate that you have the key skills/qualifications they are looking for. Don't put it in a footnote. Most likely each application will just be quickly scan-read in the first stage and if it's not obvious you have what they want, it'll be put in the rejected pile. Also make sure your spelling and grammar are correct because that's an easy way to weed out the rejects.

That's age discrimination.
Do you have in writing that you were the strongest candidate?
If so, I would seek legal advice.

I know. It was a phone call feedback, so no. I was absolutely fuming. My boss at work couldnt believe that he had actually said those words to me. I actually saw another candidate a year or so later in a conference and she told me her feedback as she was still livid. She was told that they've decided to go with someone at the start of their career. She was older than me.

Yes that is true about the benefits change.

i guess you just have to make it very obvious that you are trained, qualified, experienced and interested.

are you declaring a disability at application stage?

I was in the same boat @cigarsmokingwoman and ended up retraining. I'm earning a fraction of what I used to, but at least I am earning. I gave up ever getting a job in industry. I am a lot happier, although my bank manager isn't.

I am in a similar boat. My best advice is to apply for jobs where someone you know works. They can put you in as an official recommendation (usually they are incentivised as well) and this helps you skip the ATS/100s of CVs screening stage.

Same as DH, got made redundant in April 2024 and only 3 interviews. Nothing else at all in the pipeline - he is still looking and applying every day. It's so so tough :(

I'm on the opposite side of this, the last campaign we ran for a fairly entry level role attracted 331 applicants we then had to study every single one, so many were absolutely not the right for for the job, lots had clearly copy and pasted info from other applications not at all relevant to this one, lots were writing a 10 word sentence for a competency based question with a box with a 250 word limit. We ended up inviting 30 for interview (6 vacancies) interviewing 21 and recruiting 1 person. Such a waste of time and resources.
So many people are just firing off applications to anyone.

Make sure your application is clear, tailored to this job, you highlight your relevant skills and qualifications early on.

Yep, budge up for me too. Made redundant in March and just getting constant rejections. I did have one interview two weeks ago (one hour interview followed by two hour task) and they didn’t even have the decency to get back to me and let me know either way. I mean, how fucking rude! I used to have a pretty impressive job (working for a national publication) and now I can’t even get a job doing copywriting for local businesses. And the job specs are asking for writer/ editor/ social media manager/ marketing manager/ digital comms/ UX designer/ podcast and video editor all in one. For £30k 😳 I’m trying to be positive but it’s very very difficult.

Are you young, OP ?
Not being rude but Me, at 60, might JUST have found a job finally . Its in a shop not an office (where previous roles of mine all were).

I just asked if you were Young because perhaps you could retrain ?
I wish I had retrained but I didn't.
Good Luck anyay.

Hi OP are you declaring your disability for companies following the Two Ticks system now known as Positive about Disabled People? If so you should be getting an interview if you meet minimum criteria.
Good luck with your searches everyone.

My DD received something like this - and it was for a week of unpaid work experience at a local company. They said that they’d had more than 500 applications for a little work experience scheme. I don’t know what the answer is - it just seems that there is a shocking lack of opportunities available. She did get onto another work experience scheme and when she started that week, she was told that there were over 400 applications for a 20 place scheme. So sometimes, you do get lucky. Someone has to get it I suppose.

Make sure your application uses the exact same key words and phrases that are in the job advert / job description / person specification. This is because if they are using software to do a first sieve, it will be programmed to look for those words.

Contact recruitment agencies and getting on their books. Their business is to find the best candidates for their client employers, so they should put some effort into getting to know your particular skills and experience and matching you to suitable jobs.

This might meet that there is a lot of competition, but it might also mean nothing - we got over 100 of applications in one day for an opening we've posted last week, but 95% came through platforms link linkedin which make it easy to apply with just one click, so people apply to anything. 80% of the applicants were completely unqualified for the job.

When tailoring applications I would recommend using ChatGPT or similar to speed up the process. Ask it to include the keywords from the job description.

hi, trying to answer all the questions!

@DorothyStorm yes I share my disability at application stage. Whilst it might limit my options, I dont want to work for an employer who has an issue with it so I'd rather know straight away if they do!
@EuclidianGeometryFan recruitment agencies are really non inclusive, I've not had any luck with them, and even disability specialist recruitment agencies are rubbish because they just offer entry level opportunities!
@24Dogcuddler its called the disability confident scheme now, two ticks disappered about 15 years ago, and yes I'm aware of it and tick the box.
@Oohitsagoodpaper so true! I've seen lots of jobs that make me think - how the hell am I going to manage to do all that? Do I apply anyway or do I be more selective? Its a hard one.
@calishire chatgpt is my bestie!

DH was lucky getting a new job after just a month and loves it so much I want to smash his face in every time he tells me how much he loves it (half joking) but a colleague of his has only had 2 interviews in 6 months and both unsuccessful.

I do tailor my CV to the job advert but I really doubt myself - especially with the jobs where I have the qualifications but not much of the expereince.

We really need a WTAF? emoji!
That's rubbish.
Furious on your behalf.