Employers consider all kinds of factors when deciding whether someone is the right candidate – including some factors that are often overlooked by applicants. If you’re looking for a job, make sure that none of these elements is holding you back.

Your email address

Before emailing your resume to potential employers, consider the address it’s coming from. An email address like ‘sexyjohn123@hotmail.com’ doesn’t look particularly professional. Ideally, your email address should contain your name and birth date and nothing else. Reserve random words and nicknames for personal email addresses and gamer tags.

Your social media activity

Many employers will look at your social media accounts to get a better idea as to who you are. Drunken photos, controversial political opinions and inappropriate language are all red flags to employers. Consider going through your social media accounts and deleting anything that could paint you in a bad light. Alternatively, set your profiles to private.

Your health

Certain health problems may prevent you from landing certain jobs. More industries are starting to bring in health screening to make sure that employees are not a danger. This could include having to take a railway medical before working for a rail company. In other cases, you may have to achieve a certain level of fitness. Make sure to consider this when applying to jobs. If you can improve your health to improve your job prospects, this is also something worth doing. 

Being overqualified

As well as getting rejected for being underqualified, it’s also possible to be rejected for being overqualified. Why would an employer do this? There are a few reasons, but quite often it’s because employers believe they will have to pay you more or that you are simply looking for a temporary job until something better comes along. Unless you’re specifically looking for less responsibility and willing to take a pay cut, resist applying for jobs that you are overqualified for. 

Using the wrong keywords

Many big companies use software to help automatically filter out certain applications that use or don’t use certain terms. Think carefully about the language that you use in your application. A good way to increase your chances of getting past the hiring bot is to look at the job ad and try to replicate some of the language used here – particularly when it comes to terms listed as requirements. 

How you communicate with the receptionist

It’s not just the interviewer that makes a decision as to whether you should be hired or not. Everyone you speak to at the company may be asked to give an opinion of you. If you have to talk to a receptionist and wait in a lobby, make sure that you are friendly and polite.

Lack of follow-ups

Following up on an application can show that you are keen. Similarly, when it comes to the interview, it’s worth following up with an email to say thank you. If there is a lot of competition during the hiring process, something as simple as a follow-up email could make a difference by making you look more enthusiastic.