After finishing my master’s program, I tried to find a job as a geoscientist because it just seemed like the next logical step. However, even finding suitable vacancies was similar to searching for a needle in a haystack (at least based on my experience). The lack of job opportunities drove me to the point where I was just mindlessly applying to any available Job vacancy that seemed like something I felt I could do. Well, your guess is as good as mine, the rejection emails were arriving in my mailbox consistently but I just kept going. However, the reality of what I was doing dawned on me after I attended an open house event at ESMT Berlin.
In 2016, I attended an MBA open house event at ESMT Berlin and the highlight for me was the after event session where I had the opportunity to speak with one of the facilitators of the event. She asked me some very straightforward questions about what I wanted to do with respect to my career and why and to be honest, I just found myself ‘all over the place’ with my answers. The simple truth was that my answers were confusing to everyone listening to me including myself. Then she asked me to email my resume to her which I did and here is an extract from the feedback she sent to me ;
I took another look at your CV. It is too scattered. It needs to be short and precise
My meeting with this facilitator and her feedback email drove me to a place where I had to do some critical thinking. During my thinking phase (if I may call it that), I realised that I actually was not clear on what I wanted to do and why and this was the major reason why I was just applying to random jobs. I just wanted to ‘do something and I was like I can do anything really, ‘doesn’t matter. No wonder, the rejection emails kept rolling in on a constant basis.
Guess what? Today as a recruiter and as someone who coaches job seekers during my spare time, I have come to realise that the above is one of the major reasons why people constantly get rejection emails and are dropped during interview processes.
It is therefore important to pay close attention to the story your resume tells.
I wish you God’s speed.
