This is a common question that many of us would have asked ourselves during our careers: Why can’t I find a job? As a matter of fact, this could be the most important question of your career that you’re asking right now, after repeated failures to land a job.
Honestly speaking, there’re countless reasons why I can’t get a job. It depends on various factors. In this article, I will be discussing the primary factors why you might be finding it difficult to find a job of your choice.
I strongly suggest that you go over each of these reasons very carefully. Because that could help you find where the problem lies and take the necessary steps for correction.
In fact, most of the reasons why you can’t find a job are very simple. This means solving these causes is also easy if you exert the necessary efforts.
Interested? Here we go.
25 Reasons Why You Can’t Find a Job
This could come as a shock to many that there’re as many as 25 different reasons why is it so hard to find a job? Why won’t anyone hire you?
However, this isn’t something to worry about. If you read this article carefully, I’m sure that you’ll find the answers easily, correct any mistakes you’ve been making during the job application and interview processes and help to find a job
Read on.
1. Insufficient Educational Qualifications
Having insufficient educational qualifications for a job ranks as the main reason why most people find themselves unemployed or even underemployed.
This could occur because of your fault, and sometimes, the mistakes of an employer. I’ll explain more about this.
It’s possible that you might not have read the job requirements before sending an application and resume.
On most job posts, the employer mentions the word ‘required’ to indicate that a candidate should necessarily have a specific educational qualification. If you apply without these qualifications, you won’t get that job.
Employers often fail to mention the educational qualifications in their job posts. This could have made you apply for the job.
But, when the employer found your educational qualifications don’t match the job requirements, they would have rejected your application right away.
2. Inadequate Work Experience
Inadequate work experience is the second most significant reason you might not find a job. A lot of employers are very particular about work experience.
That’s because they’re looking at hiring people who have problem-solving skills in their profession for a considerable time. This experience would prove vital for the role for which an employer is hiring.
Though work experience and skills are two altogether different things, some employers require that you have worked at a specific role for a certain number of years to become eligible for the job.
That’s the reason most employers mention the number of years of experience that a job seeker should have on the job post. Always check if you have the necessary experience before applying.
Read: 50 Best Jobs without a Degree or Experience
3. Failing Employee Background Screening
Just in case you’re unaware, here’s something you need to know. Nowadays, many employers know something as Employee Background Screening or EBS.
That means they take your resume and send it to a company researching your background. This research can be pretty deep too.
Employee background screening companies will verify all your details, including educational qualifications, work history, credit score, if necessary, criminal records, and lots more.
This depends on the role that you’re applying for. They could call up your former employers and colleagues, if necessary.
About 15 percent to 20 percent of job seekers worldwide can’t find a job because they fail the EBS.
The most typical reasons for failing an EBS include finding gaps in employment, inconsistent career records, poor service records with one or more employers, and criminal cases.
4. Outdated Resume
If you’re applying from a job board, you could be sending an outdated resume to the recruiter. This can severely damage your chances of getting a job. In fact, the employer won’t even consider your resume. This is something that you could easily avoid.
We first have to register online and create a profile to use a job board. Usually, every job board asks you to create a resume online or upload one.
We often create a resume and later apply directly using their app or pressing the quick apply button on their website whenever there’s a vacancy.
This is something that’s easily avoidable. Update your online resume every three to four weeks, especially with your latest details that would be relevant to an employer. If possible, include the last date when you update your resume on the document.
5. Neglecting LinkedIn
Did you know that LinkedIn accounts for at least one hire every six seconds somewhere in the world? Unfortunately, a lot of job seekers either ignore this very vital recruitment resource or don’t give it the due importance that it deserves.
You might have a LinkedIn profile. However, it might not be attractive enough for employers to select you, despite having the necessary educational qualifications and skills.
Or your LinkedIn profile may be incomplete or outdated, or you have not uploaded your CV. Also, you might not have provided the proper references that could help you get a job.
Regardless of the reasons, update your LinkedIn profile and make it attractive enough for employers to notice. You could also make posts for LinkedIn, which would be viewed within a specific industry and attract the attention of potential employers.
6. Late Application for the Job
Here’s something we need to be careful about. An employer expects interested candidates for a job to apply within the first two to three days of placing the job post, either online or offline.
That’s because they’re constantly reviewing the applications and resumes they get in order to avoid the last-minute rush.
In such cases, it’s always likely that an employer will shortlist some of the impressive applications and resumes they get almost immediately. They’ll not wait for other job seekers to apply in their own sweet time. In such cases, too, you might not find a job.
This situation is also avoidable. If you’re on a job board, search daily for fresh posts and apply immediately. The more you delay sending an application and resume, the slimmer your chances of finding a job.
7. Insufficient Information on Resume
More often than not, insufficient information on your resume can be the reason why won’t anyone hire you. This is a great blunder when applying for a job and should be avoided. As a matter of fact, insufficient information on a resume doesn’t help anyone- neither the employer nor you.
While most of us take care and ensure that our resume is complete, there could be some details that we forget to mention. For example, many job seekers don’t mention their scores at schools and college.
Others fail to state their date of birth. And yet others provide very incomplete information about their employment history.
All these deficiencies cause an employer to reject your application. And, as a result, you can’t find a job. Here, I would suggest using the services of a professional resume or CV writer, as they’re none.
Obviously, the service costs some money. However, the expense would be worth it since you could land a job with a professionally written resume.
Read: How long should a resume be based on different factors
8. Poor Reference by Past or Present Employer
If you’ve bad relations with your previous or present employer, it’s pretty likely that they won’t speak on good terms about you. This can put off the new employer and could explain why you can’t find a job.
Generally, a new employer will check your behavior and other details with the present and past employer. However, in most cases, a new employer might seek your permission before contacting them because it can damage your standing or cost you the present job.
Regardless, it’s best to avoid unnecessary problems. If you’re on poor terms with a past employer or the present one, it’s best to approach them and inform them that you’re applying for a job elsewhere. That way, you might soften up some impact of a negative reference.
9. Egoistic Attitude
Are you egoistic and have unrealistic expectations of yourself? That could easily explain why you can’t find a job. You might always want to work for large, multinational corporations and big companies instead of taking jobs at relatively more minor employers.
Furthermore, you might have exaggerated ideas about your own skills and your importance to an organization.
These may be incorrect and could mislead you into believing that you can land a great position with a hefty salary at some vast organization. And when you apply for such positions, the result is negative. You can’t find a job.
10. Laziness
Most people refuse to accept the fact that they’re lazy. Such people don’t wish to make those extra efforts necessary to build a superb career. Instead, they look for jobs where they can get away by doing minimal work.
As a result, lazy people cannot provide superb details on their resumes to a prospective employer. Nor can they succeed at an interview. This could also be one of the reasons why you’re not finding a job of your choice.
If you’re among such lazy people, let me assure you that your career won’t go much further. Nowadays, employers prefer very active people that can multitask or work for long hours while giving total productivity.
Read: 10 best jobs for lazy people
11. Taking it Lightly
Yet another category of people that can’t find jobs are those who take things lightly. Meaning they take the job search and application processes and sometimes, the interview without the due seriousness it deserves.
They search vaguely for any job and apply to almost every job post, with scant attention. They send outdated resumes or very shoddily written ones. And they also turn up at interviews without preparation.
Such people aren’t concerned about whether they get the job because they lack all seriousness. If that’s also your case, it might explain why you can’t find a job.
12. Comfort Zone
There’s an old axiom that nothing good grows within a comfort zone. A comfort zone is the greatest killer of dreams, ambitions, and aspirations. Actually, you might be blissfully unaware that you’re living in a comfort zone.
One of the most typical symptoms that indicate you’re living in a comfort zone is the unwillingness to take jobs that are far away from home or require you to relocate.
It’s evident that the type of job you want might not be readily available nearer home or even in your city. Yet, unwillingness to commute longer or relocate could be the reason why you can’t find a job.
13. Not Completing Full Exit Formalities
Exit formalities are those you complete when leaving the services of your past or present employer.
These include giving a proper resignation letter, acknowledging that the employer has received the resignation letter, and explicitly mentioning details such as notice period, date of the notice, and last day at work.
A proper resignation letter should also indicate that you’ve asked your employer to designate someone to hand over your duties for a smooth transition and have sought full settlement of your dues.
Unless an employer acknowledges that you’ve left their services, you’re technically still employed with them. And when a prospective employer learns of this, they won’t offer you a job.
14. Gaps in Service
Generally, and as a rule, employers look for candidates who don’t have many unemployment gaps between one job and another. Of course, some professions are seasonal only, and such gaps are understandable.
But, if you’re not on some seasonal job and have many gaps in your service record, an employer will have severe doubts over your consistency to work with them. Therefore, they’ll reject your application, and you can’t find a job.
There’s no point in trying to patch these gaps by fudging dates or providing false information. An EBS will reveal such fudging, as I explained earlier.
15. Lack of Supporting Documents
Typically, an employer will expect that you have all the documents, such as your educational certificates and letters issued by your past employers, ready for presenting at your interview.
They would wish to see these certificates and letters to verify that you’re not making false claims. Not having supporting documents to prove your qualifications, work experience, and other details can put off a prospective employer.
In most cases, the interviewer might want to see these documents, while in some, you might have the liberty of giving the latter. But if you don’t have them, you can’t get a job for sure.
16. Lack of Job-Related Skills
Earlier in this article, I’ve mentioned briefly that job experience is totally different from job skills. Here, I’ll explain what job skills are.
In fact, job skills are more important than your experience. Skills signify the efficiency with which you can fulfill or play a specific role. This is independent of the number of years you’ve spent at a job.
You might have a specific number of years of service but lack the skills. In such cases, the prospective employer won’t hire you. This can explain why you can’t find a job despite repeated efforts.
17. Redundant Skills
While still on the topic of skills, here’s something equally important. You can’t find a job if your skills are old and hence, redundant.
This is purely your fault. Most of us expect an employer to provide the necessary training to update our skills and work with greater efficiency. That’s not always possible. Some employers might not have the necessary resources to train you.
Others might not view it as necessary because they follow outdated work practices. However, when you apply for a new job, the employer finds that you don’t have the latest skills and will indeed reject your application.
You can avoid that by investing in yourself and online training courses to update your skills.
18. Going Unprepared for an Interview
You often can’t find a job because you didn’t perform well during the interview. This happens mainly because you might have gone without the due preparations for the interview.
As a result, you wouldn’t know about the prospective employer’s business, nor would you know how to present yourself and your skills to attract them. This is something that can be easily avoided.
All you need to do is find out details about the place where you’re applying for the job and their business. If selected, learn about the role you’ll be playing at that organization and highlight your skills accordingly.
19. Arriving Late for an Interview
Every employer expects their employees to be punctual. And they expect candidates for jobs to also report on time for an interview. Arriving late for an interview can work against you.
It sends a clear message that you’re taking the interview call lightly and didn’t make efforts to ensure you’re punctual. Here, it’s worth remembering that you’re at the interview call because the employer found something on your resume that’s of their interest to.
Hence, they gave an opportunity to you. And when you arrive late, it shows that you’re not interested in the job or have no concern for other people’s time.
20. Poor Body Language at Interview
Body language is something that none of us can fake or feign. That’s the reason why interviewers study your body language during the interview.
They look for tell-tale signs such as nervousness, discomfort while answering specific questions, displeasure on your face, rush to respond, and many more. In fact, our bodies are constantly betraying our inner emotions during social interactions.
Hence, if an interviewer finds that your body language didn’t quite match with the answers you gave at the interview, they’ll quickly reject your candidature. This means you can’t find a job with that employer.
21. Hostile Interviewers
This isn’t your fault if you can’t get a job. The fault lies with the would-be employer and the interviewer. Sometimes, an interviewer is very hostile to candidates.
Such interviewers believe that a hostile or unfriendly interview would help them find the best person for the job. They live under the myth that their hostility would encourage candidates to present their best at the interview.
This is something wrong altogether. Unfortunately, some interviewers do resort to such tactics. And you could become the victim of a hostile interview. While you didn’t get that job, this doesn’t disqualify you from applying to other positions.
22. Overqualified for a Job
Employers will often reject your application if they find that you’re overqualified for a job. This happens when you have more educational qualifications, work experience, and job skills than the employer needs.
When you’re overqualified, employers suspect that you might not work for long and will jump jobs at the first available opportunity.
Since hiring newcomers costs anything between $4,000 and $25,000 each to an organization in terms of recruiting costs, training, and lower productivity, they won’t give you a job fearing you’ll leave them quickly.
The best way to avoid such disappointment is by applying only to those jobs that match your educational qualifications and experience.
23. Change in Careers
If you’re looking for a career change, the best thing to do is apply for an entry-level job. That’s because you don’t have any experience in the new field and possibly possess only limited knowledge.
You might have the necessary educational qualifications but not the experience or skills. Yet, if you apply for jobs for a change in careers, you might be unsuccessful.
Such jobs would usually be for only candidates with a specific number of years of experience and who have the necessary skills.
24. Too Much Emphasis on Money
Too much emphasis on money in terms of salary and perks during an interview or when the employer makes an offer can also disqualify you from getting the job.
At some interviews, you might have to answer the question about how much pay you’re expecting from the new employer. Obviously, you would expect more if you’re hopping jobs.
Or, you might be willing to settle for lower pay if you’re currently unemployed. However, making an unrealistic demand for high wages or even speaking too much about your financial goals can prove to be in poor taste.
The interviewer will suspect that you’ll leave the job for a little more money. Hence, they’ll never give you the job.
25. Character Issues
This can prove very serious and can prevent you from getting jobs. That’s if you have a record for domestic violence, sexual abuse at the workplace, violent behavior in public, a lengthy criminal record with lots of offenses, and so on.
No employer will hire candidates with such a history unless you’re being rehabbed by the state or Federal government. That happens because every employer wants to have a secure workplace.
You could fib about not having such a record, but employee background screening will immediately reveal your character. This can prove to be a long-term and severe impediment and hinder future employment too.
Wrap Up
Before concluding, I’ll add that most of these issues can be resolved quickly. Others may require some outside help. However, the faster you act on these flaws that I mention, the greater your chance of landing a job quickly.