3 words- starts with incompetent HR, discrimination and ageism
The standard looking rejection is BS. This is the result of years of giving d-mb as--s a job in HR which was considered a fluff/eye candy role without proper qualifications. I have seen this sh-t in startups where HR is run by the founders or finance head.
And what happens? They hire interns from any stream into HR specifically to cover administrative tasks- enter payroll information, sick notes, leaves and balances, expense claims, and of course the occasional Friday pizza party sh-t and screening of CV’s and candidates - with zero training and zero qualifications of how to do this effectively. Add to that since 2022 they get a 1000 CV’s for every post. How the fu-k do you think they get by when they are literally unqualified for this highly technical role.
Inadvertently years pass and these interns now believe they are the donkeys ba--s in HR because they are made managers and can see people’s pay and well… next thing you know they start creating their own red flags 🚩 to screen cv’s and reject candidates : all these are right up there
any gap in your cv even if it’s for a few months
not adding dates but only keeping it as years in your cv to disguise your actual exp while applying for mid level jobs
calling your self a consultant or freelancer in between jobs
pivoting from your existing career or function thinking it’s a great opportunity to apply your skills to a new sector or career or just looking to move into what we Germans call “transferable skills jobs” REJECTED, even though the JD says we welcome applications even if you only answer 50% of the requirements 5)B2 - C1 level German - rejected !!! Because it’s not enough anymore . Native speakers is what they look for
yiu didn’t add a picture to prevent them from conscious bias - rejected ; yiu didn’t add a cover letter - rejected; you decided to copy paste exactly what was asked in the JD- rejected because that found other candidates more qualified to do what I have no idea?
you don’t come from the specific “think Netflix/think tinder/think Spotify” jargon infested business that has nothing but signs of COPY PASTE all across their website
your LI or CV showcases that you are over 45and applying for manager level jobs- rejected
And finally- because HR (in between organising all those friday beer and pizza parties) just didn’t have the time nor opportunity to scan 1000’s of CV’s that came in through the actual proper recruitment channel after making them upload their CV and the renter every f-kin bit of information manually once again .
Why? because her bestie in accounts who goes out for drinks and enjoys pizza party Fridays is a PERFECT cultural fit and obviously gets the job !