PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

By Erin Wolfram

You find a job description that matches your qualifications within an organization of interest to you , and you decide to apply . You put forth the time and effort to tailor your resume and cover letter to the specific position and facility and explain why you are interested in the opportunity and organization . You know you meet all of the qualifications and feel you have done an effective job of demonstrating you are an excellent candidate . You submit your application on time and precisely follow the application directions … and you never hear back . This happens all too often , and can be extremely frustrating . You seemed to have done everything right throughout the initial phase of the application process , you know you can successfully fill the role , and cannot think of anything else you could have done to compel the hiring committee to invite you to interview for the position .

First , it is important to understand that you may not have been able to do anything differently that would have resulted in you receiving an interview . The organization may have had a strong pool of internal candidates , or may have already had a top candidate in mind before the job was posted , which means the hiring committee , unfortunately , may not have even considered other applicants – including you – no matter how qualified you are .

Second , while having strong , tailored application materials is certainly a necessary part of applying for a job , there are additional proactive actions you can take to help increase the likelihood of landing a new position . Securing a job often requires months or even years of advanced work to develop your network and strong relationships that can set you apart from the competition and lead you to a successful job search .

The following tips provide tangible actions you can take now to help make your next job search more effective :

30 SportsField Management | January 2022 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com