In today’s ultra-competitive job market, even small mistakes can sink a candidate’s chances.
If you’re applying for a job at Allstate, be careful how you talk about your past work experiences. Sean Barry, the company’s vice president of talent acquisition, said one of the biggest mistakes candidates make is speaking too harshly about their former employers and bosses.
“It’s still surprising to me how many candidates will speak poorly about past employers,” he said. “They’re talking to a human being — human beings don’t like to hear people badmouth other people.”
Barry said that while some critical remarks are understandable, others can come off as unprofessional and raise questions about why the candidate’s last role didn’t work out.
“With as many options as organizations have at this point, finding somebody who isn’t running from a job but is actually running to a job — I think there’s just a greater feeling of safety,” he said.
Many US businesses can afford to be picky during the hiring process right now. Economic uncertainty and other factors have led them to post and fill fewer positions, while AI tools have made it easier for candidates to send out more applications, resulting in more people competing for fewer roles. Excluding a brief pandemic-related dip, US businesses are hiring at nearly the lowest rate since 2014, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
In this environment, every misstep in an application or interview is magnified. In addition to Allstate, Business Insider asked Google, Kraft Heinz, Verizon, and Exelon about the biggest mistake candidates make during the hiring process, ranging from cover letter typos to lying about their qualifications.
Basic mistakes still trip up candidates
Some mistakes are so avoidable, yet candidates keep making them.
“You wouldn’t believe the number of résumés or cover letters that still don’t get our name right,” said Denise Galambos, chief people and equity officer at Exelon. “They think they’re applying to Exxon, not Exelon.”
She said basic mistakes like these give hiring managers an “easy out” when they’re trying to narrow down hundreds of applicants.
Allstate’s Barry said some job seekers’ urge to submit dozens of applications can lead to generic résumés and careless mistakes, like listing the wrong hiring manager in a cover letter.
“That’s where I think the whole ‘more is better’ mentality comes back to bite a lot of people,” he said.
Spring Lacy, Verizon’s vice president of talent acquisition, said some candidates aren’t prepared to discuss everything on their résumés, such as work experiences from several years ago.
“They go, ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought about that in a while,'” she said. “Well, it’s on your résumé. It’s fair game.”
Mathias Rech, head of people and performance at Kraft Heinz North America, said some candidates stumble because they don’t adequately research the company or role.
“When candidates clearly understand our culture, history, and ambitions, it shows genuine interest and preparation,” he said. “On the other hand, generic applications suggest someone is simply looking for any job.”
While candidates applying to Google don’t need to meet every job requirement, a company spokesperson said that applying without a clear skills match can still significantly hurt their chances.
“One of the most common mistakes applicants make is applying for a role where their skills aren’t clearly aligned with the minimum and preferred qualifications outlined in the job description,” said a Google spokesperson.
AI-assisted applications are on the rise — and under scrutiny
Some job seekers have turned to various AI tools to optimize their résumés, submit hundreds of applications, and even navigate interviews. But relying on AI too heavily can backfire.
The Google spokesperson said the company has recently updated its candidate guide to make clear that using AI tools during the interview process is grounds for disqualification. While the company didn’t name specific tools or practices, some job seekers have experimented with AI “teleprompter” apps that listen in on interviews and feed answers in real time. Before they even land an interview, some job seekers have used AI tools like ChatGPT to help craft their résumés and cover letters.
Barry said that Allstate uses technology that helps the company flag applications likely generated with the help of AI tools, though some still slip through.
He said he has some concerns that AI — by trying to make a candidate appear like the perfect fit — could inflate skills or experience, leading hiring managers to waste time interviewing people who aren’t truly qualified. Still, he said that gaps between a candidate’s application and actual qualifications tend to eventually surface during the interview process.
“When you dig into their experience more specifically, it’s something that we feel like we’re going to be able to catch as the tech continues to evolve,” he said.
Barry added that the competitive nature of the job market may be contributing to more dishonesty among candidates — something he said seems to have ticked up over the past six months or so. Two common examples, he said, are overstating the role they played on a project, and implying they earned a degree from a college they attended but didn’t graduate from.
“Anytime that somebody says something that’s really easy to disprove, that’s clearly problematic,” he said.
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