How can I get more job responses?

Hi Tiffanie!

One methodology that worked for me:

Customize your resume for each job opportunity. Try to imagine what the company is looking for in the candidates and how your experiences can help the company.

Wish you good luck. Hope I helped.

Greetings from Porto Alegre, Brazil!

Most attractive jobs have so many applicants these days because there are numerous job search services and ways to find openings. The hardest part is to distinguish yourself from the crowd. One example might be using a small graph on your resume to highlight some of your skills or presenting your information in a slightly different look that gives the hirer pause for a little longer when looking at your resume. ALWAYS include a cover letter explaining what attracts you to the job and why you think it would be a good fit for you and for the company. It's not enough to just include a generic cover letter. Another way to stand out is to try and identify the company recruiter and physically mail them a hard copy of your information.

Have you followed up to your online application with an email or phone call? If not, these are good steps to take. Regardless, you should be getting some response if the online resume submission is valid.

If you have followed up and you repeatedly get limited or no response, you may want to work on your resume. This might mean wordsmithing it to make it more appealing -or- more severely that you are applying for opportunities that are above what you are skilled for. In which case, you need to manage your expectations and seek opportunities more in line with your skill set.

Don't be afraid of asking questions to the hiring company in a thoughtful, concise way. Sometimes if the position is very sought after, there may not be a response as the recipient is overwhelmed, but you might get lucky and find someone who will give you important feedback.

Good luck! Don't be discouraged. That you are seeking guidance and advice is probably a good indicator that you are serious about finding the right position. Hang in there, follow up, keep improving what you can.

Hi Tiffanie!

Thanks for your interesting question.

Too many people these days depend upon the internet for too many things. Applying for jobs online is possibly not the best way to seek a job.

70-80% of people find jobs, many which are not even publicized, by networking, most successfully through natural contacts.
Here are some networking tips which many have found to be very helpful:
http://www.wikihow.com/Network
https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations

The fastest way to get a job is to seek information, not an opening.

If you approach someone explaining that you do not expect them to have or know of a job, but you are trying to learn how someone with your skills and experience can help accomplish its goals, you will have the opportunity to learn more about the application of you skills and abilities and experience and develop relationships that could led to surprising results. The goal is to arrange such conversations with people who are doing what you think that you might want to do in companies for which you think that you might want to work.

Through teaching and coaching networking for many years, it surprises me how many people discover jobs through these natural connections and even through chance encounters.

Also, many have made a connection through people that they have met only once. When they said that they were looking for someone to help them find out how to apply their experience and asked "do you know of anyone who uses someone with a background like mine", helpful information was gained from such unlikely people such as a barber, a doctor, a hairdresser, the person across the back fence who was met only one, etc.

Networking works wonders as it is based upon personal contact through which a relationship and the resulting sharing is accomplished.

Please let me know if this is helpful and if so how. I would like to follow your progress. Please keep me informed.

Hi, Tiffanie. Also remember to use the keywords you see in the job description. This also helps trigger a keyword system if they have one. Good luck!