是不是找新工作找了好一陣卻一無所獲？振作點，你不是一個人。獵頭公司任仕達（美國）調查了2000名最近剛換了工作的美國人，發現找工作平均耗時五個月。在美國失業率跌至49年來最低水平3.7%以前，耗時也差不多。

不僅找工作時間長，即使發現符合要求的職位，在申請之后卻經常得不到回音。位于曼哈頓的獵頭公司ABS Staffing Solutions的首席執行官阿列爾·舒爾稱：“我們發現，最近很多求職者難過的是連面試的機會都沒有，更別提錄用通知了。”

今年10月，美國新增工作崗位25萬個，遠高于大多數經濟學家預期的19.5萬個左右，而且空缺職位的總數超過700萬個。為什么找工作還這么困難？

總結起來至少有兩大原因，一是人口問題。隨著工作崗位增加，之前一些沒找工作的勞動者現在也受到鼓舞，重返人才市場。2018年以來，美國的勞動力月均增長約7萬人，可供用人單位挑選的新增勞動者人數超過了實際崗位數。舒爾指出：“工作的確是增加了，但人才市場的競爭仍然相當激烈。”

目前看來，求職者在尋找更好待遇時，并沒有完全考慮到競爭環境。我們對一些大城市的獵頭做了一項非正式調查，發現求職者雖然稱不上自大，但或多或少有點自負。一位受訪獵頭表示：“雖然人才市場很活躍，卻不一定會如你（求職者）所愿。我們發現，很多人為了所謂的‘理想’工作堅持要求，以為機會遍地，在找到真正滿意的工作以前沒有必要‘決定’。”可是完美的機會從來都是稍縱即逝的，如果求職者太過挑剔，可能會忽視一些很棒的機會。

人才市場火爆找工作卻變慢還有另一個原因：如果在一家公司工作時間太長，所有人都已經認識你，也了解你的業績有多么突出。不過，你還是可能希望換個更好的環境。這種想法本來沒什么錯，但獵頭指出，進入新環境積極表現的能力會隨著時間逐漸下降，工作中應該注意的一些重要細節也容易遺忘。

近些年，用人單位篩選求職者使用的技術也在變化。例如，求職者只要發簡歷就行，然而現在企業應用招聘管理平臺（ATS）已非常普遍。以前沒人在意招聘崗位的關鍵字，現在十分重要。除非求職者為不同的工作專門寫簡歷，適合相應工作的關鍵字在簡歷中重復出現，否則簡歷可能永遠走不到招聘專員那一步，面試就更別想了。

此外，任仕達調查發現，不管是因為太過自信、缺少實踐，還是其他一些原因，很多求職者依然容易犯一些傳統的求職大忌。比如將近半數（占比達49%）的受訪者稱，明知自己不符合要求仍然會申請相關工作機會，約40%的受訪者在面試后沒有跟進詢問。

另外，還有一個不少人忽視的經驗之談：對面試要提前做好功課，不要犯致命錯誤。如果簡歷通過了ATS的篩選，用人單位打電話通知你面試，首先要做一些了解，這是常識。要看看相關公司的網站，想幾個可能遇到的問題，對諸如“你最大的缺點是什么”之類的面試常見問題要事先準備好回答。

而在任仕達上述調查中，約有半數受訪者承認都有過“完全沒有準備”就去面試的經歷，至少都有過一次。就算人才市場供需兩旺，準備不充分也可能導致找工作花得時間更長。（財富中文網）

本文作者安妮·費希爾是職場專家，也是提供職場建議的專欄作家。她在《財富》開設“解決問題”（Work It Out）專欄，向讀者提供21世紀的工作與生活指導。

譯者：Pessy

審校：夏林

If you’ve been looking for a new job for a while and getting nowhere, cheer up. You’re not alone. The average search now takes five months, according to a new survey by recruiters Randstad USA of 2,000 people across the U.S. who have recently changed jobs. That’s about the same length of time as before the unemployment rate fell to its current 49-year low of 3.7%.

Not only that, but it’s still not at all unusual to apply for a role you’d be perfect for and then hear…nothing. Says Ariel Schur, CEO of Manhattan-based recruiters ABS Staffing Solutions, “We’re seeing lots of candidates lately who are frustrated by not even getting interviews, let alone offers.”

The U.S. economy created 250,000 new jobs in October, well above the 195,000 or so forecast by most economists, for a total of well over 7 million job openings. So, why is snagging one of them still such a struggle?

There are at least two big reasons, one of which is demographic. As jobs increase, so does the number of people who had stopped looking for work, but who now feel encouraged to get back in the race. The labor force has been growing by about 70,000 people per month in every month of 2018—many more potential new hires than employers can absorb. “There are more jobs, yes,” notes Schur. “But this is still an intensely competitive job market.”

It seems that not everyone who’s hankering after greener pastures has taken that into account. We conducted an informal poll of headhunters in major cities and discovered that a certain complacency, not to say cockiness, has set in. “The fact that the job market is so strong can actually work against you,” said one. “We’re seeing more people holding out for the ‘perfect’ job, with the idea that there are so many choices, they don’t have to ‘settle’ until they find it.” But perfection, alas, is every bit as elusive as it ever was, and being excessively picky can lead to overlooking some pretty great opportunities.

A second way the robust job market can slow down a search: You may be tempted to look around for a better situation after a long spell of working for the same company, where everyone already knows you and your wonderful accomplishments. Nothing wrong with that, but recruiters point out that the basic skills involved in wowing a whole new audience tend to rust up over time, while certain crucial niceties get forgotten altogether.

The technology employers use to screen out candidates has changed in recent years, too. The last time you sent out resumes “cold”, for instance, may have been before applicant tracking software (ATS) became as ubiquitous as it is now. So the particular keywords in each different job description may not have mattered much. Now they do. Unless you write a different CV for each job, with the precisely right keywords repeated several times throughout, your resume will probably never be seen by a human being. There goes your interview.

Beyond that, whether from overconfidence, lack of practice, or for some other reason, Randstad’s survey suggests that many people now are making many of the same old job-hunting mistakes as ever. For instance, nearly half (49%) said they’d applied for jobs they knew they weren’t qualified for, and about 40% didn’t bother to follow up after job interviews.

Then there’s that old standby, trying to wing it in an interview and falling flat on one’s face. Once you get past the ATS gauntlet and someone calls you in for a chat, it’s just common sense to do some homework first—read the company’s website, think up a few intelligent questions, have a ready reply to standard questions like “What’s your greatest weakness?“, and so on.

Yet, about half of the folks in the survey admitted they’d gone in “completely unprepared” to at least one meeting with a prospective employer. Even in this job market, that’s guaranteed to make a long search longer.

Anne Fisher is a career expert and advice columnist who writes “Work It Out,” Fortune’s guide to working and living in the 21st century.