4 Ways to improve your chances of a hiring manager responding to your application

In today’s competitive job market, getting a hiring manager to respond to your job application is no easy task. Hundreds of applicants arrive in their inbox per opening, therefore it is essential you make yourself stand out from the get-go.

While there’s no guarantee way to land your dream job, there are a few things you can do to improve your chances of getting a response thus giving yourself greater opportunity of getting hired.

The idea of this article will be to offer 4 specifics ways in which you can increase the likelihood of having a hiring manager respond to your application, whether you are a graduate looking for your first job or an experienced professional looking for a new challenge.

Not all will work with every manager, stay consistent with your job search and adopt these tips where you can, with that, let’s dive in.

Follow instructions carefully

This applies to the actual process of applying for the opening. Even if you come across a role on a job board like LinkedIn, sometimes within the job description there will be specific actions for you to do as part of the application.

Some that we have seen are:

·         Attach a cover letter introducing yourself.

·         Apply to an alternative link – this is common for larger enterprise companies with their own portals to store applicants.

·         Apply by a certain date.

·         Address an email with your CV (and supporting documents) to a specific individual.

Now this is not true for all openings but taking a moment to fully read each description before applying will minimise wasted chances in case they require extra steps.

A bonus tip, if you are asked to email someone specifically use a clear and concise subject line (or their one if they have provided it) as this will make it easier for the hiring team to understand the purpose of your email quickly.

Tailor your application

We know it takes longer and it might seem counter productive tailoring each application when you are not hearing back from so many, however this is about you standing out and one of the best ways to do that is by allowing your application to reflect the company you are applying to more.

To do this, research the company and it’s culture through their website, socials and general news you find online. Look at the job description, specifically at the language they use to describe themselves as well as the core skills they require.

Adjust your resume and cover letter to reflect not only the core skills (if you have them) but also try to use similar words (some can be the same) as to how they describe their culture in regards to you and the environment you are looking for, the best place for this is your introduction or cover letter.

Follow up

Don’t be afraid to follow up with the hiring team / manager post application if you have not heard back from them. We would suggest leaving it a week before doing this as sometimes organisations collect responses before reviewing them.

A polite email or phone call if you can find the number shows your interest and might prompt them to put your name further up the list of reviews or at least give you the chance to hear feedback if you have been rejected but not informed yet.

Introductions go a long way

If possible, consider reaching out to your network for introductions and referrals into the organisation, better yet to the hiring manager specifically. If you know someone at the business already, they might be able to put a good word in for you. If you have no connections there as of yet, jump onto LinkedIn or other platforms and start engaging with their content and making new connections, if done with sincerity it will eventually pay off.

Unfortunately with anything in life there is no magic wand that can get us what we want, but there are always things we can do, small changes to get slightly better outcomes. Some of these tips will work with some managers and others won’t, just like some of you reading this will implement them and others won’t.

The beauty of the job search process is that it is extremely individual. Hopefully you come away from this article with something to try or action if you find that your current methods are not producing the results you wish.

If you know of someone who also might not be getting the results they want, feel free to share it with them and lets collectively simplify the chaos of recruitment.