23 Applicants per Job

MattLFC

qetu1357 wrote: »

My top tip is don't apply for jobs.

Unless you're out of work and claiming JSA lol.

Personally, I'd be applying for as many jobs as I could were I unemployed, tailoring CV's and covering letters to each type of job (or in the case of IT, I'd be creating a new cover letter for each and every job cos thats my field lol). Unemployed people should be spending at least 30 hours a week applying for jobs imho, if they want to get one.

Basically, any job you think you could do on the basis of the role, the tasks and the advert description. The law of averages has to come into play somewhere along the line lol.

CBH88

As Yorkie1 said, tailor your cover letter and your CV to the work you are applying for, stating why you want to work for that particular company and what you could bring to the job. Make sure you have relevant experience in that area, whether it is paid or voluntary- there is no point applying to something completely alien to you because the company simply won't consider you. Also, find out the name of the person who deals with the CVs and address it to them personally, rather than just 'Sir/ Madam'.

pineapple

It must be my area of work because hardly any of the jobs I applied for (local authority and charity) over the past few years wanted a CV. In fact some expressly forbade sending one in! Instead you had to go through a cumbersome application form that included job history, how you met the person specs etc. The person specs are often long and detailed and divided into skills, attributes, experience, qualifications etc and invariably you are expected to respond to each point by point. When I was unemployed and constantly applying it was a real pain as the application forms were in different formats. So I couldn't even copy and paste the job record between them or from my actual CV (which was basically just for my own reference).
As for the job record, I was pushing 60 when I last went through this, so I would 'take an executive decision' and put a limit on how far I went back in time. This didn't seem to count against me (I'm sure the employers didn't want to read War and Peace zzzzzzzzz)

**Juice**

pineapple wrote: »

It must be my area of work because hardly any of the jobs I applied for (local authority and charity) over the past few years wanted a CV. In fact some expressly forbade sending one in! Instead you had to go through a cumbersome application form that included job history, how you met the person specs etc. The person specs are often long and detailed and divided into skills, attributes, experience, qualifications etc and invariably you are expected to respond to each point by point. When I was unemployed and constantly applying it was a real pain as the application forms were in different formats. So I couldn't even copy and paste the job record between them or from my actual CV (which was basically just for my own reference).
As for the job record, I was pushing 60 when I last went through this, so I would 'take an executive decision' and put a limit on how far I went back in time. This didn't seem to count against me (I'm sure the employers didn't want to read War and Peace zzzzzzzzz)

I tend to prefer applications to sending in CV's - it is time consuming but I find it easier to sell my skills and experience in this way than a CV where I'm not quite sure what the question is :rotfl:

beccad

Make sure your CV is relevant to the job in question. Don't just have a one-size fits all CV. Do a covering letter and address the points in the person specification in a bulleted format. Don't assume, for example, that the recruiter will know you can use a computer. If the job requires use of a computer then tell them you can use one! This is relevant to all your skills.

Make sure you use capital letters and full stops where needed (I know that sounds obvious, but I've just sorted through 200 odd job applications and binned the ones who typed their name on the application in lower case letters). Learn how to use the apostrophe. Get a grown-up email address. Prefixes of 'sexyXYZ' or 'drunkenXYZ' are just not appropriate. Don't use txt spk or smilies. (I do see things like this from time to time on application forms and I'm dealing with people who have PhDs :rotfl:). Sorry if this all sounds a bit obvious, but it happens all the time...

Check your voicemail and email regularly, including your junk email folder.

Above all, good luck!

hex2

LondonDiva wrote: »

DO NOT do this, unless you actually have anything worthwhile to put across. I've tended to discount the ones who've stalked me on email or phone as they have come across as just ticking a box and wating my time.

Me too

Generally:

1. Follow the instructions - if I have asked you to write a paragraph on our website for example, actually do it. My last vacancy that specified this over 95% didn't and went straght in the 'no' pile - it was a pre-qualification test for attention to detail and the ability to follow instructions.
2. If you live miles away explain how you could start in Monday in your covering note. I get applications for ROI from people in England and vice versa with no reason as to why it is an option. I dont have time to contact you to ask why so you go in the 'difficult' pile.
3. Make sure you meet the specified experience/criteria and that you have clearly shown this in the criteria, don't think you can explain at interview, you haven't clearly ticked the boxes so you won't get that far.
4. Get someone else to spellcheck. Use capital letters. Check the covering note as well!
5. As per BeccaD have a sensible e-mail. foxychick@wherever will sadly put you on the 'no' pile when I am trying to get 200 down to 4.

I appreciate people may not like these comments but I work in a tight margin, limited time role where I simply drown in the days following an advert. I miss the happy days of best practice HR but I do still make sure I reply to every applicant so I am not all bad :cool:.

bargainbetty

I recently hired a Receptionist and put the ad in at the Job Centre, because I wanted to give more people a chance to apply. I gave our address, and specifically asked that people send a hard copy of their CV with a covering letter. No email, no telephone calls, no agencies.

I received more than 100 email applications, every one of which was refused with an instruction to use the post. Can't follow instructions? You don't get the job.

I received 5 follow up calls. One woman demanded that I stop what I was doing to check her CV was in the pile (over 100 CVs). I checked it, and refused to have any further conversation with her. She called me back three days later to find out why she hadn't been called for an interview yet, despite the closing date not being for a further two days. Funnily enough, I rejected her application because I could not imagine her performing the role with her attitude.

I was left with 150 applications. I removed those who hadn't sent a covering letter (one used a green post-it note with 'HEREWITH MY CV' written on it), those with spelling or grammatical errors (one had 32 mistakes), then I stripped out those who did not have the necessary skills or experience.

I was left with eight applications. I interviewed all of them and gave the job to the best candidate on the day.

So, read the job spec, apply for things you can do, read the ad and follow the instructions, and make sure your CV is neat, presentable and correct. You might be 1-100, but if the other 100 don't do those things, you will be ahead of the game from the start.

I also reply to every applicant - I hated being left hanging, so I try not to do that to people.

Edit: If you are sending a letter, use plain white paper. Do NOT use letterhead with pictures of cats all over it. I like cats, but it's really not professional. Yes, that really happened.

CCFC_80

bargainbetty wrote: »

I recently hired a Receptionist and put the ad in at the Job Centre, because I wanted to give more people a chance to apply. I gave our address, and specifically asked that people send a hard copy of their CV with a covering letter. No email, no telephone calls, no agencies.



Out of interest why did you not accept applications by email ? It's much better reducing the carbon footprint. Oh and if you say you wanted to check the grammar,presentation and spelling of the covering letters who's to say the applicant didn't write it anyway.
Hats off to you by the way for not getting agencies involved.

MissSarah1972

bargainbetty wrote: »

I recently hired a Receptionist and put the ad in at the Job Centre, because I wanted to give more people a chance to apply. I gave our address, and specifically asked that people send a hard copy of their CV with a covering letter. No email, no telephone calls, no agencies.

I received more than 100 email applications, every one of which was refused with an instruction to use the post. Can't follow instructions? You don't get the job.

You are assuming everyone has a printer or loads of cash to spend pritining out CV's. It's 25p a sheet at my library.