Job Hunting for IT job (Business Analyst) - Need Advice

[varanassy]

Hi,

After 11 years stint at my last company as business analyst/product owner I find myself out of work and looking for a new position..

My initial experience with job hunting in 2023 has been soul destroying... the issue is not that I have not yet found a job. I was expecting that to require some effort. What is frustrating is that I am struggling to get companies and recruitment agents to take any interest & pick up the phone at least to start a conversation.

As far as I can tell I am a very good match both on experience & qualifications on a number of positions I've applied for. In some cases I would say 100%. I have some of the BCS qualifications. I have also had positive feedback on my CV and Linked In profile from the few agents who I have spoken to. The one time I did get an interview - it went very well - but the employer decided to put recruitment indefinitely on hold..

Either these job adverts don't really exist - or I am doing something very wrong in my applications.. Possibly a mixture of the two. I've come across several cases where I found out that a recruiter who was hiring was not actually looking for an immediate start (suggesting adverts are sometimes very inaccurate). The stock rejection letters I get back are all automated and unhelpful. It is also really difficult to contact agents by phone these days too - I have tried to contact agents via phone and social media but not managed to get anywhere. Its really tough to sell myself if I can't find openings to talk to human beings.

I am sure I can't be the only one in this position. It is clear that the job market for IT is not what it was. However, because the modern application process for IT jobs feels so opaque its making me dread making further applications - especially as it is clear that I don't have a clue what the formula is to maximising my chances.

I am considering paying for career consultancy services as I feel so, so stuck.. but feel that this should be a last resort. I know I should not be finding something that millions of people have to do quite this tricky to navigate.

If there are some things I can do to stand out from the crowd, or particular places to focus my search (other than LinkedIn) I will give it all a go. I am also open-minded to start seeking out free-lance opportunities. I have considered organising & running workshops (which I have got experience also in) while I look for something more secure. But in all honesty while I have ideas - its all a bit of an unstructured mess in my head in terms of what I should be prioritising.

Any advice that anyone can give on how I can try and transform my situation would be very helpful. I realise no-one owes me a living and it is very normal for job hunting to take months etc but at the moment I just seem to be banging my head against a brick wall.


Many thanks

 

[Nick@Daydot]

• DM me your Linkedin profile and I'll give some honest feedback
• Identify some companies you'd like to work for and see if you can find recruiting managers on Linkedin through your contacts and get an introduction
• Expect to be ghosted by companies and recruiters (they also get ghosted by candidates)
• Adapt your cv for each job application
• Send a covering letter if you can with each application - it might be ignored, but it might help
• Make sure your contacts know you're looking
• Turn on the 'looking for work' tag in Linkedin

 

[WaveJumper]

I was once told the job market is like an iceberg, only the tip is showing and the rest as we know is hidden. A lot of networking is needed, word of mouth, speak to people you know in the sector, don't just rely on the agencies. Best of luck and take up the offer above from @Nick@Daydot

 

[IanSuth]

27 years as an IT perm rec consultant until covid happy to give advice

Long and short is that loads of agencies use multiposting tools and loads of job boards have reciprocal deals with each other (or are owned by same parent) to make it look like they have more jobs.

So a poor quality recruiter can cut and paste some info from a spec/email/company website, that is then poorly auto turned into an advert which is posted on multiple websites that then post to each other - a "well if you have the perfect xyz let me see them - you can see our spec on the website" has suddenly become 50 (or more) online ads within a few minutes - even if the original is taken down a few days later when that company says "oi, i said if you have the perfect, not run an ad and bombard me" all that multiposting and propagation takes up to a month for it to disappear.

Look for ads which are not obviously a cut and paste (although with those you can easily find the actual company as the "company description" will be a cut and paste of their website) you are more likely to be dealing with someone who has actually had a decent conversation and has a decent relationship with the hirer.

Have a vanilla core CV you can quickly personalise with relevant achievements/experience for each job you actually think is a goer - better to apply for 10 with a tailored cv than 100 with an average one

 

[varanassy]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I will take that on board.

In terms of my linked in situation, it’s been somewhat neglected over the years.. I’m no natural networker. I’ve updated my profile but otherwise not too sure how to make the most of social media.

Nick, I will DM my linked in profile with a summary tomorrow morning. Negative feedback most welcome. It’s the best way to improve.

 

[Byzantium]

A very long time ago before the internet was invented, junior jobs in the City in London were advertised in a couple of free A4 magazines given out at tube stations; Nine to Five and Midweek were two, there could have been more.

Unable to break into the system through lack of knowledge and experience and later wanting the highest paid job in my sector, I took all the magazines and stripped out all their salient points, all their experiences required and all the snippets of jargon used to "pre select" those "in the know".

I used this data to construct various CVs, none of which were fiction but all of which were highly focussed on what the recruiter was looking for. If he wanted crab for lunch then I was feeding him crab for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It worked, the wheel started spinning and that was the end of the beginning but it never left me that all I had done was regurgitate what they were looking for and overlay my experience or talent.

Perhaps you need to stop looking at what you have and start looking at what they want.

 

[Nick@Daydot]

Nick, I will DM my linked in profile with a summary tomorrow morning. Negative feedback most welcome. It’s the best way to improve.

Great - and it's not negative. It's positive ideas for improvement.

 

[fisicx]

@varanassy - when you apply for a job do you create a new CV each time?

Recruiters look for matching keywords in the content. If they want an asp widget programmer and your cv doesn’t have those exact words in the blurb and your employment history is won’t even get past the first step.

Many agencies use automated tools, this means a human won’t even see your application.

 

[varanassy]

Thanks @fisicx. I have a few versions of CV - but I haven't been customising them per job application. I am going to start doing that and ensure that I use exactly the right terminology and phrases word for word etc. I am also going to look at making my covering letters more compelling.