Why Recruiters Aren’t Reaching Out (And It’s Not Your Skills)

👋 Hello Friends!

Welcome to Never Finished — the newsletter for professionals who are done applying to 200+ jobs and getting ghosted.

Each week, I share 3 short ideas to help you land interviews on demand — no résumé roulette required.

Let’s get you moving again.

It’s early morning and your day hasn’t even started… but the pressure already has.

You open LinkedIn before brushing your teeth.

Three new job postings.
Two saved yesterday.
One your friend forwarded.

You think:

“Should I apply to all of these?
They could fit.
Right?”

So you apply.

Then another.
And another.

By 10:47 AM, you’ve sent 12 applications…
and nothing in your world has changed.

Your profile looks good.
Your resume is clean.
Your experience is solid.

But the silence?

Still there.

And you’re wondering:

“What am I missing?”

Let’s talk about that — because this one shift can change your entire job search.

Let me tell you the part almost everyone overlooks:

You’re not missing skills.
You’re missing direction.

Not motivation.
Not effort.
Not intelligence.

Direction.

This is the job-search pattern nearly everyone falls into:

They build a profile that shows everything they’ve done…

…but not the one thing they want to do next.

It’s like walking into a restaurant and saying:

“I can make Italian, Chinese, Thai, or Mexican.
Hire me for anything.”

Sounds flexible.
Feels reasonable.

But to the hiring manager?

It sounds like confusion.

And confusion never wins.

Let me show you what it looks like in real life:

— Your headline says “Analyst | Project Manager | Operations | Learning Always”
— Your “About” section says you love problem-solving, leadership, teamwork
— Your experience covers 4 different job families
— Your skills list looks like a grocery store receipt
— Your job applications?
Every role that “seems close enough”

To you, it looks “open.”

To recruiters, it looks foggy.

And foggy profiles never get pulled forward.

Because hiring managers don’t pick the best candidate.

They pick the candidate who is the clearest fit.

That’s the whole game.

Let me tell you a quick story.

Last month, a reader named Kavya messaged me.
She said:

“Ajay, I’ve applied to 110 roles.
No interviews.
I feel like I’m doing something wrong.”

So I looked at her profile.

It was impressive.
Clean.
Professional.

But it pointed in ten different directions.

So I asked her one question:

“If I told a recruiter your name, what role should instantly come to mind?”

She paused.

Then she said:

“…I don’t know.”

That was the problem.

She wasn’t unqualified.
She wasn’t lazy.
She wasn’t unlucky.

She was unclear.

So I had her do three things:

Choose one target role.
Rewrite her profile around that role.
Spend 10 minutes a day warming up hiring managers instead of waiting.

Within 9 days?

Three interviews.
Same experience.
Same skills.
Same person.

Different positioning.
Different proactivity.
Completely different outcome.

Here’s the truth:

When you pick a lane, people pick you.
When you stay open, people scroll past you.

Here’s the 3-step system that moves you from:

“Good profile, no traction”
to
“Clear profile, recruiters leaning in.”

No fluff.
No complicated steps.
Just clarity + consistency.

This is the hardest step emotionally —
but the easiest step strategically.

When you try to fit 5 roles…
you fit none.

When you choose 1 role…
your brain, your profile, your story, your content —
all snap into alignment.

Example:
Instead of:
“Business Analyst | Operations | Project Management | Learning Enthusiast”

Try:
“Business Analyst who simplifies complex systems into clear, actionable dashboards.”

It instantly tells the recruiter:

“Oh.
That’s who you are.”

🧠 Try this:
Write down one sentence:
“I want to be hired as a __________.”
Everything you update must match that blank.

You don’t need a full overhaul.

Just the pieces that matter most:

Your goal:

Make a recruiter think:
“Yep. This person was built for this job.”

Example transformation:

❌ Before:
“Experienced professional passionate about teamwork, growth, learning…”

✔️ After:
“I help companies reduce operational waste by automating slow manual workflows.”

Instant clarity.

🧠 Try this:
Rewrite your headline using this formula:
I help [type of company/team] do [specific outcome] through [your core skill].

This is where traction comes from.

Not from applying.
Not from hoping.
Not from refreshing your inbox.

Traction comes from visibility.

Every day, spend 5–10 minutes doing one of these:

• Leave 3 thoughtful comments on posts from hiring managers
• DM a recruiter with a simple, value-first line
• Repost something relevant with your own 1–2 line takeaway
• Share a micro-story about how you solved a problem at work

Not bragging.
Not selling.
Not desperate.

Just showing.

Here’s why this works:

When you engage, your face becomes familiar.
When you show proof, your name becomes credible.
When you speak up, opportunities find you.

🧠 Try this:
Pick 5 people at companies you like.
Comment on their posts for 7 days.
You’ll be shocked at the doors that open.

Because hiring isn’t about perfection —
it’s about direction.

Forward it to one friend who feels like they’re “doing everything right”…
but nothing is moving.

Or reply and tell me one thing:

What role are you targeting next?

I’ll help you sharpen it.

— Ajay
Building Interview Demand Systems