I don’t know what’s going so wrong.

I have applied to 42 jobs and received 20 rejections, with 0 opportunities to even interview.

My resume is from WSO template, and I used suggested wording from various popular resume websites.

I don’t understand why I’ve gotten such a large amount of rejections. Am I applying to position in under or over qualified for? Does my resume suck? Is it just a bad time to apply? How do I improve from here?

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Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

Make sure that your resume format is one that ATS can read (for example, be careful about your use of tables for the layout). I ended up having one simple version that I used when I thought it would go through ATS, and a pretty resume that I used when submitting to a specific person by e-mail or to give HR once they reached out for an initial screening.

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There are also several ats websites you can go to. Drop the resume in one box and the JD in the other and run a match. It’ll tell you how well it matches by percent. You wanna target at least 70-80%, 85% is a rockstar match but takes a lot of effort not to sound canned or like a copy/paste of the JD.

I’ve been having this same issue, but it’s starting to turn around. Final screen with HR coming up.

Honestly it can be a complete mix, or something specific. I’d recommend having someone red ink your resume and give candid feedback, then make sure you are targeting the right jobs and networking.

I used a career coach to help. Worked with her before but tried solo this round until about 2 months ago, then things got easier and I started getting call backs.

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Hard to really answer this question without understanding too much of what you're applying for, but since you've not received any interview invites, my first guess would be you aren't making it through the algorithm. The suggested words from resume sites are great for a general template, like if you were handing your resume out, or just have it on your linkedin, but if you are applying to the same job roles, its best to just take the wording directly from the posting as best as it fits.
If you have to break template and list your specific skills (i.e that you gained in college, or on side projects) as their own separate category, do that as well.
If you're applying to various role types (hopefully not too different or more than like 2-3) have different resumes for them, catered to the role.

That being said, the resume builder in linkedin is useful for getting some of that together. if you input a job title, it will cross reference its postings with your current resume wording and then tell you what skills you should have on your resume (as a computer would read them) to match them more. I would suggest playing around with the wording in there and then taking it offline to make the format how you would like (though less important).

Outside of all that information (sorry its so long), try reaching out directly to recruiters. And persistently.

Thank you. I’ve tried this with a couple of positions, but yeah, I’ve definitely gotten some quick rejections, as if it was automatic

It’s possible you resume needs some changes, but the job market is very saturated with candidates right now. We’re talked hundreds of applicants for 1 opening. Don’t lose confidence in yourself. People are out here applying to over 100 hundred openings only getting minimal responses (est. 5-15 phone screen/interviews).

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