Here is why you don’t get called for interview
The rate of unemployment in Nigeria is becoming alarming, a bone in the neck and nothing to write home about. It was indeed a shock when 6 Ph.D and 704 Masters degree holders applied for a driver's post at Dangote Cement Industry (Vanguard Newspaper). Year in, year out, the rate of unemployment in the country continue to go on an upward spiral. Yet, our tertiary institutions keep churning out fresh graduates to the job market. This, not anything else, is a pointer to the fact that we have yet to realize cogent reasons our graduates still remain unemployed. According to the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige, Nigeria's unemployment rate hits 33.5% in 2020. But, this didn't just happen; there must definitely be something we are yet to get right. And the question that begs is that, are these graduates unemployed or unemployable?
To bridge this huge gap and gain employment, our youths need to be skilled in business writings. Job applicant has to go through some processes and one of them is crafting a good CV to increase chances of getting hired. In case you don’t know, it takes 10-20 applications to get one interview (Kushal Chakrabarti, 2017). This is why learning the nitty-gritty of crafting a good and compelling CV is highly important in the contemporary job market. CVs and résumés presents avenue for showcasing skills and offerings of a potential employee to a company. A recruiter might have more than 1000 CVs or résumés to review within limited time. Thus, he or she won't spend time on a CV or résumé that is not well crafted. In fact, it has been found that recruiters only spend between 6-7 seconds on a résumé. Thus, except the job applicant is knowledgeable and well-trained on business writings, he or she might not land the job applied for.
I never knew there was a real difference between a CV and résumé until I went for a business writing training. The role of education cannot be overemphasized when crafting a CV except you employ the services of a professional CV writer. Like I would always say, "it's either you write or you get someone to write, for you." If you want to save cost, be educated on how to craft a résumé and if not, be ready to pay for the service to create one for you. A lot of work goes into creating résumés that are well-tailored to particular jobs or positions.
Furthermore, another reason you can’t get called for that interview is if you don't have the required skills recruiters are looking for. I never realized I had some skills and the jobs I had done that were relevant to crafting my résumé for a writing job. But, the business writing training I went for, opened my eyes to see the salient skills and core competencies I had. And, I would have put irrelevant skills on my résumé if not for the training. Imagine me putting a teaching skill on a résumé that is meant for writing. I got enlightened during the training on how to bring out hidden skills that I didn't realize I had before. I was literally taught mind-mapping. I had to think about all the works I had done and roles I have undertaken that was relating to writing. I am not alone in this, as it happens to most graduates because they are always complaining that they have no skills for specific roles. But, if they really look within themselves, they would realize they have done something similar to the job they are applying for. And, if you still can't find relevant skills, it's high time you started gearing efforts towards acquiring skills suitable to the job you want.
The final reason for losing a job interview is when you are fast-becoming obsolete. I could remember when I decided to first craft my CV, I used an old format. I was so proud about making my first CV and I was going to make it into a business. Only for me to realize during my business training that it had taken a new turn — a contemporary trend had emerged. I had to start all over again. And, if you have ever crafted a CV before, you would notice that you can feel lazy when crafting it. Being updated could have saved me from that stress. It's highly crucial to stay updated on new formats of crafting CV and trends in the employment industry. You can use professional platforms like LinkedIn to follow updates in your industry. Meanwhile, different recruiters have different ways of how CVs should be crafted but, there are still similarities. And, at the rate at which technology is going, new apps and websites are being developed that changes the status quo of CV formats. The format for CV two years ago, isn't the same format that is being used now.
So, one of the ways to impress an hiring manager and get called for interview is to be skillful in business writing because this helps to sell a job applicant better. This is why business writings have to be learnt. As a professional CV writer myself, I definitely know crafting a CV/résumé doesn't come easy (particularly if you’re doing it yourself) or cheap (if employing someone). But, if you really want to get that interview and eventually land your dream role, you would need to put some things into consideration and efforts into place. If you are getting educated on it, you would need to be patient enough and disciplined even when you don't feel like crafting it. And, if you are hiring a CV writer, look for a professional who can craft it well. I really hope you have learnt a few things from this article. Now, it’s time to take action! I wish you all the best as you craft your CV and prepare for the next phase of your life and career. I am deeply rooting for you.
