Given all the posts about the fracturing culture, setting oneself up as an individual, finding a competitive advantage in the workplace, the differences in body language between people and other things of that nature, the title of this post might seem surprising. But really, it shouldn’t.
By now, it’s pretty well-known that the Pareto Principle is being unintentionally used by employers – if 100 applications that fit a job perfectly are sent in, only 80 are identified by resume systems as being viable candidates and only 20% of those individuals end up being contacted for an interview. So when it comes down to the mechanics of a job application from the employer’s side, it’s an issue of time versus the sheer quantity of applicants.
You might be one of those 100 perfect applicants, but you wind up having a 16% chance of getting the interview. And since an average of 10 seconds is spent looking at your cover letter and resume, your application had better stick out (in a good way).
Putting aside the squeaky wheel philosophy, your application needs to be tailored to the position you’re applying for. Use their buzzwords. If you can, match writing style and word choice. Watch your formatting. And for gosh sakes, read over it.
Your job application is a persuasive argument for why the company should waste its time to give you an interview, waste more time training you, and waste money paying you. If you can’t make a specific, well-thought-out case for your necessity, then they will pass you over. It has nothing to do with how nice you are, the words you use, or in some cases, your education and experience. Make a unique application for each unique job.
Who cares if you’re the same as everyone else? If your application does its job correctly, you’ll find employment, and you can differentiate yourself then.
