I've graduated from university with a first-class honours in a STEM subject. I've completed dozens of LinkedIn skills quizzes, courses on skills which are job-specific to my chosen career path.
And guess what? It means jack-all.
I have applied for 70+ grad schemes and junior/trainee jobs now – my key strengths from these stupid psychometric tests are typically those you'd expect for the role. For an accountant, for instance, I have data entry experience and a knowledge of economics, accounting and finance, and key traits are analytical, goal-driven etc, yet I never see past this and fail to nab an interview every single time.
Don't get me wrong, it's not as if I haven't applied for 'lower-skill' jobs either (in apostrophes because anyone who has worked in these jobs know the physical and psychological strain they imply). But I'm 'too qualified' or, once again, fail the psychometric tests because I'm not a good fit (understandably). And I'm not a difficult person to work with, either – my friends describe me as friendly and considerate, and always going out of my way to get to know people and make good connections. I've volunteered at a local charity shop for several years and I regularly commit to social action projects, I've got additional certifications from agencies which are role-specific, and yet I haven't had a single interview. I've probably wasted tens, if not hundreds of hours just typing the same information out over and over again because organisations can't be bothered to read my CV.
I'm truly reaching the point of giving up, but I know I have to pay the bills.
My questions are as follows:
- What the hell can I do to improve my chances of getting a job somewhere?
- How can you know what to put on psychometric tests? Do you always answer them true-to-yourself every single time or do you modify them based on the role/organisation?
- And how do you know what type of person they want for the role?
And thank you if you're reading this. I appreciate the time you've taken to hear me rant.