As a Talent Acquisition Representative for LaunchSource, I review over 100 resumes a week and talk to nearly 50 candidates a week. Often I run into the same problems with entry-level candidates, so I’ve put together a list of things to avoid doing during your job search.  Here are some reasons I have disqualified candidates from our program.

You Applied to a job when you are going on vacation the next day. Did you want to interview on the beach?

Timing is one of the most important aspects of landing a job. If you’re lucky enough to get a phone interview, make yourself available. I understand vacations are planned in advance, but if you’re in the job market then consider it your full time job to be available to employers.

You are not prepared. You want me to tell you what you applied for? No. You should know what you are interested in doing for a career.

If you really want to crush your phone interview you need to prepare. That means looking at the entire website of your potential employer. I suggest reading some blogs, looking up the people you’re going to speak with on LinkedIn, and coming up with a few questions about the role, the company, and what the position entails. Asking these type of questions will show you did your homework and will delight any Hiring Manager you speak with.

Missing the call all together. Don’t call me back 10 minutes later and say you forgot. My day does not revolve around you.

This is a sure fire way to disqualify yourself. If you don’t pick up, I’m on to the next candidate. I sit down before the call, look over your resume, make a profile for you,  make sure my surroundings are quiet. I expect you to do the same.

Poor grammar on resumes or emails. You’re not texting your buddies.

Please don’t write “what’s up” and “k”. Grammar is still important. Make sure your formatting is correct and everything is spelled correctly. Read your emails aloud or have your roommate/friend/parent/sibling give it a quick proofread.

Excuses, excuses, excuses. STOP.

I get it, things do come up and we face emergencies at not-so-ideal times, but if you wake up and are just being lazy then you’re never going to be successful. Hiring managers have heard every excuse in the book and are good at sniffing out the fake ones. If you have a real emergency I’ll be willing to give you another chance, but “I was in the shower” is not one of them.

There are certain things that you can do to pull ahead of the rest of the job seekers out there, and they require no skill or experience.

Here’s a list of 10 things that require zero talent:

1. Punctuality
2. Work ethic
3. Proactiveness
4. Body language
5. Energy
6. Passion
7. Being coachable
8. Effort
9. Readiness
10. Attitude

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