Why am I not getting interviews?

Sending applications into silence is the worst part of a job search, partly because the feedback is useless: you learn that something is wrong, but nothing about what. So people change things at random — a new font, a different summary, ten more applications — and learn nothing from that either.

Work through these five in order. The order matters: the first two cause most silence, and fixing anything further down while they're broken changes nothing.

1. You're applying to roles your evidence doesn't cover

Open a posting you were rejected from and find its top three requirements — usually the first three bullets, or whatever's repeated in the intro. Now ask: does your CV prove all three, with specifics, without the reader having to infer anything?

If you're guessing on even one, that's likely your answer. This is the most common cause and the least popular one, because the fix isn't cosmetic — it's applying to different roles, or building the missing evidence first. Twenty applications where your evidence is undeniable will outperform two hundred where it's a stretch.

2. The proof is there, but not where anyone looks

A recruiter's first pass is a few seconds. If your strongest, most relevant achievement sits in the third bullet of your second job, it effectively doesn't exist. Everything that proves those top three requirements belongs in the top third of page one — in your profile line and your current role.

Numbers do the heavy lifting here. "Responsible for the paid budget" is a claim; "owned a €2M annual paid budget across six markets" is evidence. Same fact, completely different weight.

3. The machine can't read your CV

Before a person sees it, software usually parses it — and when parsing fails, the recruiter sees a half-empty profile and moves on. You never find out. Do the copy-paste test: select all the text in your PDF, paste it into a plain text editor, and see whether it comes out complete and in the right order.

If it's scrambled, that's a mechanical problem with a mechanical fix — the ATS-proof CV checklist covers the twelve things that actually matter.

4. You're applying a level (or two) up

If a role wants someone who has already led the function and your evidence shows you supported the person who led it, no cover letter closes that gap. This is worth checking honestly, because it's expensive: these applications consume the most energy and produce the most silence.

Applying up isn't wrong — but treat it as a deliberate long shot, not your main strategy, and make sure the bulk of your applications sit where you're clearly credible.

5. The application says nothing specific

Only now does the letter matter. If yours could be sent to any company in your industry with the name swapped out, it isn't doing any work. A letter earns its place by containing something that could only have been written for this posting — a real observation about their business, connected to your actual evidence. That's the leitmotiv method.

Read the pattern, not the event

One rejection tells you nothing — the decision was probably made by things you can't see. Ten tell you something real. If you get no interviews at all, the cause is up at 1–3. If you get first interviews but never second ones, your materials are promising something the conversation doesn't deliver. If you reach final rounds and lose, your process is working and you're losing to competition, which is a different problem entirely — and much closer to success than it feels.

Job Badger will tell you honestly where your evidence is thin before you send — paste a posting and see. Free, no account.