So if you are not getting a lot of traction with recruiters, ask yourself this - are you actually a great candidate?
Just about everyone's automatic answer to this is Yes. "Hey, I've got 6 years of Windows server admin experience, I've got an MCSE, etc, etc". But saying you have x years of experience or certs y and z doesn't really answer the question. We've all seen people in the workplace who aren't very good, in spite of having experience, certs and degrees. Are you genuinely good?
Reflect on this for a moment - 50% of people are worse than average. And recuiters are trying to track down that top 5 or 10%. That's 9 out of 10 who don't make the grade. Here are some questions you might ask yourself as to whether you are a great candidate:
- Are you an excellent communicator? Articulate, engaging, able to speak directly to the point.
- Do you actually answer the questions you are asked?
- Is your CV polished, well formatted and sensibly structured?
- Is your career history stable? Good tenures in roles, with no major gaps in your experience.
- Have you worked for well known, well regarded organisations?
- Have you moved to different organisations across your career to prove yourself in different environments?
- Have you kept your skills up to date and relevant? (Keeping in mind it's commercial experience that counts)
- Are you certified in the technologies and methologies that you consider your core area of expertise?
- Are your pay expectations reasonable given your experience?
- And finally, the big one - Are you actually as good as your peers? (and how have you benchmaked this?)
My own personal feeling is the people that have the worst experiences with recruiters are in fact the worst candidates.
