A leading recruiter has issued a stark warning to job seekers about the things they do wrong in interviews that will prevent them from getting hired.
Tammie Christofis Ballis, 37, specialist recruiter and career coach at Realistic Careers, revealed some of the ways job seekers are harming their chances of landing the role they want.
The seasoned recruiter said it’s even more important for applicants to know where they’re going wrong because the job market has become more competitive.
“When there’s a financial crisis, hiring freezes happen,” Ballis told Daily Mail Australia.
“And whoever leaves, no one will replace them and that is what we are seeing right now.”
Ms Ballis said the cost of living crisis has seen people seek higher-paying positions and second and third jobs to survive, making the job market even more competitive.
“The more entry-level the position, the more applications there will be,” he said.
“Normally we see around 100 people looking for work, but now it is up to 500 people.”
The recruiting professional has offered some useful tips on what not to do if you want to land your dream job.
Tammie Christofis Ballis (pictured), a specialist recruiter and career coach, has noticed some worrying trends that she wants job seekers to be aware of.
She has revealed how Australians can get their CVs to the top at a time when the job market is weakening. (Archive image of Australians at a music festival)
Stop sending fancy resumes
Ms. Ballis said job seekers tend to think that the “fashier” their resume is, the better it must be.
“No. You need to have a good resume in the Applicant Tracking System, which means it is compatible with the systems used in recruiting,” he said.
‘There’s a big misconception on the Internet that people think AI automatically scans and rejects resumes, but that’s not the case.’
The career coach said a simple Word or PDF document is all that’s needed because humans are looking at them – they have to be “easy to read” and “simple.”
They should also be colorless and have a simple format.
“Colors can hide keywords we’re looking for, although if you’re applying to creative industries, that’s fine,” she said.
‘But in every other industry, nobody cares about your graphics skills.
“Nowadays, everyone knows how to use a computer. We’re not in the 1990s.”
Ms Ballis also said that recruiters read from top to bottom, so columns should be avoided as they make it difficult to find information and employers “need to see what they are looking for”.
“People pay $500 to $600 for a resume and they just don’t get hired,” he said.
“Applicants pay people to do their resumes when they do it as a side job; they have no experience in recruiting or human resources,” she said.
The career coach said a simple Word or PDF resume is all that’s needed because humans are looking at them – they have to be “easy to read” and “simple.”
Ms Ballis (pictured) advises job seekers to use the phone rather than sending a follow-up email to stay “at the top of the list”
“They think the more sophisticated the design, the more they can charge.”
The recruiter also said that these resumes tend to be longer and may not mention the applicant’s experience.‘to the middle of page two’.
“People don’t realize that it’s just a piece of paper that’s only going to help you get an interview – it’s not worth $500.”
How to get your resume “on top”
With the current high volume of applicants, Ms. Ballis said it is not possible to review all resumes.
“Apply immediately. As soon as they find someone else, they will take your place,” he said.
‘Then, if there was a number in the job ad, call it and make sure they received your resume.
‘If an applicant has the experience you’re looking for, a recruiter will call them for a phone interview.
‘This is how you stay on top of everything. I know it’s old-fashioned compared to email and technology, but people don’t have time and emails can get lost.
“A simple call can make a difference, yet most people are too afraid to call or believe they shouldn’t.”
Australia’s youth unemployment rate remained at 9.6 per cent according to the latest June 2024 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
How to Help Your Teen Climb the Career Ladder
Ms. Ballis also warned teens — and their parents — that jobs require real work.
“Stop treating it like it’s football practice, it’s not. It’s a job,” he said.
The recruiter said that if a teenager gets a job, he or she cannot dictate his or her hours or days worked.
It is up to them to work in harmony with the employer and the school, not the other way around.
The 37-year-old has also seen a rise in the number of parents submitting CVs on behalf of their children, which is a “big red flag” for employers.
“If parents walk into a store with their teenager and the child doesn’t talk and the parent hands them the resume, don’t come back a week later and ask why their child didn’t get an interview,” she said.
“It is clear that the child is neither interested nor prepared to work.”
The recruiter also warns that one should never accompany one’s child to the interview or be present during it.
The recruiter also warns against ever accompanying a child to an interview, after seeing a young Australian girl take her father to an interview at a McDonald’s.
“I was once in a McDonald’s and there was a nervous girl about 15 being interviewed,” she said.
‘It only lasted a couple of minutes, and then a woman sitting nearby asked, “Is that all? Is that all?”
“It was the mother and she was in complete shock.”
Ms Ballis said staff would have known the mother was there and knew the girl was not suitable for work.
“The mother had no self-awareness and exercised authoritarian parental overprotection,” he said.
‘The people who work at Macca’s are very hard-working and courageous: they don’t look for children who need their parents.’
The 37-year-old said teens who want a job should do it “old school” and print out their resume and go to the business on their own to introduce themselves.
“You see it all the time on social media pages: ‘Does anyone have a job for my child?’ (But) they need to find it themselves,” she said.
Stop complaining on LinkedIn
Ms Ballis said she could not believe people were turning to professional networking site LinkedIn to try to “gain sympathy” by criticising recruiters.
“There seems to be a shift where people are more comfortable complaining about recruiting staff and hiring managers,” she said.
‘But we’re looking on LinkedIn.
“They’re trying to boost ego so that random people will validate them, but recruiters will see what you’ve posted,” Ballis warned.
Ms Ballis said she cannot believe people are turning to professional networking site LinkedIn to try to “win sympathy” by criticising recruiters (file image)
‘LinkedIn used to be about sharing information and work advice; now it’s about complaining about everything.
“There is no solution to the problems: people just want views and clickbait. It’s like social media.
“It’s so bad it’s funny.”
She urged job seekers to remember that when they are looking for work, a green banner saying “open for work” will appear on LinkedIn profiles, which is only visible to potential recruiters.