One of the reasons people can't find employment....

pioneer22

So I am on the interview panel for a role where I work, and I've asked HR for the CV's we've had so far. Just a standard PA/Admin role.

Wow, do people not realise the indeed format for CV's is terrible, and just some of the basics are wrong, spelling, Format, content, cover letters are for other jobs.

I appreciate people are looking for jobs we've had about 200 people apply. A lot are from non relevant industries, barwork, cleaners etc. Which is fine people want to move around but there is literally nothing to say why they want the job and what transferable skills.

One of the guys in HR said when they rung one of the candidates they said "whose this, I've applied for so many jobs" At least pretend you know which job it is!!

Incredibly frustrating.

Ebe_Scrooge

pioneer22 wrote: »

So I am on the interview panel for a role where I work, and I've asked HR for the CV's we've had so far. Just a standard PA/Admin role. Why do people begin sentences with "So" ?

Wow, do people not realise the indeed < capital "I" required, it's a proper noun > format for CV's is terrible, and just some of the basics are wrong, spelling, Format <capital "F" not required, this is not a proper noun>, content, cover letters are for other jobs.

I appreciate people are looking for jobs we've had about 200 people apply. A lot are from non relevant industries, barwork, cleaners etc. Which is fine people want to move around but there is literally nothing to say why they want the job and what transferable skills <appending "they have" to the end of this sentence would be more gramatically correct>

One of the guys in HR said when they rung <the past tense of "ring" is "rang", not "rung"> one of the candidates they said "whose <the correct contraction of "who is" is "who's", not "whose"> this, I've applied for so many jobs" At least pretend you know which job it is!!

Incredibly frustrating.

Yes, I always find bad spelling and grammar very irritating as well.

pioneer22

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

Yes, I always find bad spelling and grammar very irritating as well.

Grammar and literacy isn't one of my strengths, curse of being dyslexic I guess.

TELLIT01

It's likely that many of the applications you are receiving, particularly those with no relevant experience and/or wrong cover letter, have come from people claiming JSA who have to apply for x number of jobs a week to ensure their benefit isn't suspended. There don't seem to be any checks on what jobs have been applied for, just the number. A standard DWP tick box exercise.

motorguy

pioneer22 wrote: »

So I am on the interview panel for a role where I work, and I've asked HR for the CV's we've had so far. Just a standard PA/Admin role.

Wow, do people not realise the indeed format for CV's is terrible, and just some of the basics are wrong, spelling, Format, content, cover letters are for other jobs.

I appreciate people are looking for jobs we've had about 200 people apply. A lot are from non relevant industries, barwork, cleaners etc. Which is fine people want to move around but there is literally nothing to say why they want the job and what transferable skills.

One of the guys in HR said when they rung one of the candidates they said "whose this, I've applied for so many jobs" At least pretend you know which job it is!!

Incredibly frustrating.

Part of the reason is people think the world owes them a living, so they dont have to bother too much. Its everybody elses fault when they dont get a job.

Not that that attitude ends when they get a job. My wife runs a call centre and the amount of people who expect / believe it is "their right" to get promoted after a few months with no previous experience is just crazy.

gingerdad

We don't anymore bother with any interviews from the job centre - too many people turning up with no interest in the job and just want a tick in the box.

Nick_C

I don't understand why firms accept CVs instead of having their own application forms. CVs make it much harder for the people drawing up the shortlist to analyse unstructured information.

As for spelling and grammar, they were always essential criteria for jobs I was recruiting to. I would sift out over half the applications this way.

I don't accept dyslexia as an excuse for errors in a formal document. Do your composition with a WP package. If there are still errors, then its a failure to pay attention to detail.

TELLIT01

Nick_C wrote: »

I don't understand why firms accept CVs instead of having their own application forms. CVs make it much harder for the people drawing up the shortlist to analyse unstructured information.

There shouldn't be any problem analysing information from a well structured CV. Software is widely used to interrogate CVs rather than physically reading them. That software can work just as effectively on a generic CV format as it can on a company application form.

Fireflyaway

I agree. I receive applications from people who live hundreds of miles away, people who describe themselves as hard working but haven't worked in 10 years, people who even provide fake email addresses and phone numbers.
There are people who want to work but don't know how to present themselves then there are the people who don't want to work and only apply to keep the job centre off their back!

TELLIT01

motorguy wrote: »

Part of the reason is people think the world owes them a living, so they dont have to bother too much. Its everybody elses fault when they dont get a job.

Not that that attitude ends when they get a job. My wife runs a call centre and the amount of people who expect / believe it is "their right" to get promoted after a few months with no previous experience is just crazy.

I certainly heard the cry of "I should have got that job, I've been here longer than xyz" far too many times in my working life. Never any thought as to why xyz was seen as a better candidate for promotion.

Nick_C

TELLIT01 wrote: »

There shouldn't be any problem analysing information from a well structured CV. Software is widely used to interrogate CVs rather than physically reading them. That software can work just as effectively on a generic CV format as it can on a company application form.

Does software score the CV against a person specification?