How not to get a job

A survey by recruitment software company Bullhorn found that one of their biggest turn-offs is candidates applying for jobs that are above their skill level – with many blacklisting candidates who do.

Three in ten recruiters said candidates who apply to positions for which they are clearly unqualified was their biggest bugbear, with 43 per cent indicating that they would blacklist such candidates and suppress their names from CV searches.

The other top four negative candidate behaviours that damage job applications include exaggerating qualifications, focusing on salary above all other job criteria, responding to a job posting that is beyond their level of expertise and calling or emailing more than once a week for status updates.

The findings of our survey have been published to help job seekers get inside the heads of recruiters to be able to better position themselves, but also help make the job of a recruiter a lot easier.

The company also asked recruiters to disclose which attributes would set a candidate apart from other applicants with a similar background and qualifications. Among other things, recruiters said those candidates who present themselves well at interview, have a good personality fit with the company, and those being referred by a friend or colleague stood a better chance.

Have you got anything to say about how not to get a job?