Sales Recruitment Insight: Still not got a new job-Part 2

Monday, January 22, 2018

Last year we put together a list of things that might have been holding you back from getting a new job (Read Part 1 here). Well, new year, new list! Here are some more things that could be holding you back from that dream sales job

Your social media presence is letting you down

For an employer or recruiter, the only social media account that they will probably care about is your LinkedIn. It’s a powerful networking tool but can let you down if you’re a) not using it. How’s a recruiter meant to find you?! Or  b) You’re using it wrong. You’ve either not kept it up to date, or you’re using it like Facebook, or worse, like Tinder.

Recruiters or even would-be employers will look at your LinkedIn profile, not just to see the type of experience you have, or companies you’ve worked for, but also the type of person you might be. If you’re posting/liking sharing relevant content or talking about how you just ran a race for charity- these are all great things. But if you’re expressing negative opinions or things that might clash with the values of that company, it could serve as a cross against you.

The above extends to Facebook and Twitter as well.

Here is a list of people who’ve lost their jobs because of their post on social media.  While these relate to people losing their existing jobs, it’s easy to see how bad behaviour on social media could prevent you from getting one as well.  http://people.com/celebrity/employees-who-were-fired-because-of-social-media-posts/

You’re CV is filled with spelling/format mistakes

This just seems like such a basic, but if I had a pound for every time one of the Saleslogic recruiters saw a spelling or formatting mistake in a CV we'd all be working from a  gold-plated superyacht. If you really struggle with spelling, try using something like Grammarly, and if you’re struggling to get your CV to look nice, or at least all be in the same font, try downloading a CV template instead.

You’re closed to criticism or advice.

You’re an expert at what you do. You might be the top salesperson in the country, a real sales pro, but that doesn’t mean you’re automatically great at writing a CV or interviewing. They aren’t things you do every day. A recruiter however practically swims in CV’s, so if they’re giving you advice about your CV, you should listen because that’s what they’re experts in. Getting bad feedback following an interview can be hard to hear, but you really should listen and learn and improve for the next time. Just ignoring the feedback or not taking it on board, will most likely just lead to more bad feedback.

Your expectations are realistic

You’ve had 3 years’ experience but you want to be paid like you have 10? You’re not willing to speak to someone junior, only deal with the most senior recruiter? You can’t understand why you’ve not heard back from anyone an hour after contacting them? Perhaps your expectation level needs to be brought down just a tad.

You haven’t made a plan

You might be thinking, um yeah I’ve made a plan; it’s to get a new job! Well actually no, all you’ve done is said what your destination is. You've not said how you’re getting there, the best route to take, what you want to see on the way. During your job search you need to plan, how are you going to look for roles, which roles are you going to even look for, are you going to go it alone or work with a recruiter. Here is our guide to making a pre-job-search plan.

Hopefully, now that you’ve read part one and two and maybe fixed a few of the mistakes you didn’t realise you were making, you’ll be that one step closer to celebrating your new job!

All the best of luck!

Don’t forget, we’re here to help, so if you need the helping hand – Get in touch

 

Saleslogic is a leading sales recruitment agency in London. We specialise in digital sales jobsSaaS sales jobssoftware sales jobs and more. Click here to view sales jobs we are currently recruiting for.