One of the saddest things about job hunting is that you can be making mistakes and not know that you’re making mistakes. It could be the fact that you did not format your resume properly or you’re reaching out with a cover letter filled with “Am” at the start of sentences instead of “I am” or “I’m.”
It could also be that you’re using the same template to apply for jobs that are not similar. Imagine using your social media manager email template to apply for the role of a developer intern. There are so many other mistakes you could be making right now while looking for jobs, but you wouldn’t know them. In this article, I am going to be highlighting 5 mistakes you could be making while applying for remote jobs.
5 Mistakes to avoid when searching for a remote job
Adding your house address to your CV/Resume
This is probably the first thing I learnt to be taboo when it comes to updating a CV in general. You don’t need to add your address in your CV or resume. You can put your country and city, that’s all. For example, Los Angeles, California and that’s it, instead of using your exact address. There is no need to use your exact address.
Another thing you should know about adding your address to your CV or your resume is that most companies actually consider it as personal information according to GDPR laws. So, for that reason, you should not add it to your CV at all as it could get the company in trouble. Yes, this is a serious matter
If your company needs your address, maybe for payment or for something else, they’re going to ask you when it’s time, but they don’t need it to interview you or hire you for the job. You just need to include your city, and in most cases, if possible, just use your state or country and that’s it.
Not following up after tests or Interviews
I feel like most people don’t follow up after an interview or first contact because they feel like they are not good enough or they did not do well in the assessment or during the interview. Remember, It’s all in your head. Just because you feel you did not do well doesn’t mean you did not do well.
If a company says they will get back to you after an interview or an assessment but they did not get back to you, please reach out to them via e-mail or whatever channel they reached out to earlier and find out the status of your application.
You can say something like,
“Hey Michael, how are you doing today?
I am reaching out because I haven’t heard from you in two weeks. I’d like to know if I failed the interview or passed.
Thank you.”
Or
“Good Morning Jennifer
I hope this email finds you well?
I want to know the status of my job application as I haven’t heard from you.
I will be looking forward to your response
[Your name]”
That’s it. You don’t have to sugarcoat it or try to cut corners with words. Just go straight to the point and ask them what the status is, but of course, try to be as polite. You need to follow up with these companies because you’re not the only one they’re interviewing and processing… sometimes they get a lot of emails and requests and yours might just get lost in the queue.
Also, if you failed an interview/test and they inform you, ask them what you did wrong that needs correcting so that you can do better in the future. You can say something like this:
“Thank you so much for letting me know.
Is there something I need to do to improve next time I’m applying?
I would really appreciate your feedback”
The recruiter might give you some tips on how to be better or do better. If you don’t hear from them, that’s also fine, but you did your best.
Settling after applying
I ran into a friend once and I asked how the job hunt is going. She told me that she applied to a couple of companies but they haven’t gotten back to her. Although they did tell her that they would get back to her and I told her “okay, so are you currently interviewing with other companies in the meantime?” She told me she’s still waiting for these companies to get back to her. I almost screamed… That’s not the way to go about it.
I think you should keep applying to different companies until you land your dream job. Do not wait for those companies you applied to get back to you. Let’s face it, even if they do, it might take a while and it might not even be the good news you’re expecting. If you apply to a company and they tell you, “we’re going to get back to you”, take those words with a pinch of salt and just keep applying to other companies.
If you feel like you’re applying to so many companies every day or every week then create a spreadsheet to list the companies you’ve applied to or roles you’ve applied for so you don’t apply for the same role twice.
Just because you applied to a company does not mean that you are going to get hired. Also, just because you were interviewed and the recruiter said a lot of nice things does not mean that you will be hired at the end of the day. You are considered hired when you receive the job offer or when they explicitly tell you “hey, you’re hired for this job”. If you do not hear those words or similar, then don’t stop applying. Keep applying to different companies and do not give up.
Bad English
We have talked about this so many times. I made a TikTok video about it a while back, talked about it in our weekly sessions and also wrote about it on this blog. One of the things that get you disqualified easily when looking for remote jobs is your English. If your English is not good, then you’re not going to land a remote job. I keep saying this because I see it a lot. I review job applications and cover letters that have really terrible sentences and grammar.
Even if someone created a CV and cover letter for you, you can fail an English assessment before or after the interview. You can fail English if you’re in the interview and you can’t construct simple sentences. I understand you’re nervous but try as much as possible to construct simple sentences. If you believe your English is bad, then you should check out apps like Duolingo that lets you learn English for free. They can also give you oral and written English assessments for you to take and test your progress.
Learning English will help you understand the difference between “am” and I’m” and which to begin a sentence with. Try as much as possible to speak and write good English. If you don’t know how to do that, then you should actually focus on that first before searching for remote jobs.
I’ve had people reach out to me on LinkedIn and their English is just really horrible and I just instantly know that we can’t really hire them. It also doesn’t matter the profession you’re in. Even if you are a developer., you still need to, you know, present yourself and pitch your progress on the job from time to time. You still need to talk about yourself from time to time. So, It’s not just limited to customer support agents or social media managers.
The goal of interviews is for the interviewer to get to know you, hear you speak, understand your journey, and also learn about your experience. You need to be able to put all of that in sentences. Please work on your English, this is very important.
Not checking your email regularly
I don’t know how many times the average person should check their e-mail in a day and I honestly don’t want to Google it. If you’re applying to different companies, I want to believe you have the e-mail app installed on your device and you’re checking your mail from time to time. Have notifications turned on. This does not mean you should check your e-mail in the middle of the night or every second. No, I’m saying make time to check your e-mail from time to time. It doesn’t have to be every hour.
I’ve had cases where we send out an invitation for an interview and two whole days will pass, we won’t hear from the candidate. You should be able to check your e-mail at least six times in two days when looking for jobs. It could be in the morning and the afternoon or morning and evening or as many times as possible. Of course not every second, but try to check your e-mail from time to time. Don’t turn off notifications for your e-mail.
Check your spam folder as well. Some emails could go to spam as well because of the Ats that some of these recruitment companies use. An ATS is an applicant tracking system. That’s the tool they used to invite you for interviews and also track your data and all of that. So some of these Ats can send their e-mail to your spam folder and because of that, you wouldn’t see the e-mail until a couple of days or… you know never if you don’t check your spam. So please check your e-mail from time to time and also check your spam folder when applying for jobs.
