Stop & think before you press send!!

This is just a very brief blog post as I am up to my neck in Job Applications today! Over the last 3 days I have seen some sloppy approaches to applying for jobs and simply wanted to share a few of the errors with you;

- Sending a covering letter for a role that has not been changed since your previous application, therefore displaying a completely different job title & in some cases the company, to which you are applying. This is not acceptable and would usually, unless you truly tick all the boxes, would be immediately rejected. The role in question this week was for a PHP Web Developer, the candidate said he was applying for a ‘Graduate Analyst’ role!!

- I have seen a number of CVs this week that are in excess of 5 pages, this is complete madness – you are not writing an autobiography – it’s an overview of your career, keep it short & relevant (2 pages are ideal).

- When a job advert asks for 2 years minimum experience, for eg, in a certain sector, don’t apply for the role with NO experience!! If you have a very valid reason which you believe makes you suitable, without meeting their specification, then at the very least explain that in a covering letter/email.

- Also – I am not a mind reader! Please don’t send an email to a recruiter/potential employer with just your CV attached – with no job ref, no covering email, no words at all – mmm, strikes me that you are too lazy to say anything or so confident in your experience that you are assuming we know what you’re applying for!! We don’t L

Please stop and think before you send your application, it’s the 1^st few minutes of an employer reading your details when the decision will be made regarding whether to progress with your application.

That’s it for now but if you need help with writing your CV and/or Covering Letter then please get in touch with a CV Consultant at our sister company e-cv-buddy J

And then there were 2 …. It’s the FINAL tonight!!

If you are an avid Apprentice fan then I am sure you have put everything that you would normally do on a Sunday night to one side ready to tune in to watch the delights of Kate and Yasmina battle it out to become Sir Alan’s next Apprentice!

Last weeks interview sessions were by far my favourite viewing of this series – how could Yasmina not know her company accounts can be accessed by anyone, why did James crumble under the pressure and why did Lorraine keep slipping back to her Irish roots!? There were some extremely awkward moments throughout the interviews and I was also shocked to hear James call Jo Brand one of the ‘Ugly Sisters’ on the BBC2’s after-show – if she had actually heard what he’d said I am sure she would have taken the mickey out of him more.

The interviewers this year were the usual - Karen Brady, MD of Birmingham City Football Club, Bordan Tkachuk, CEO of one of Sir Alan’s firms Viglen and Claude Litner, Sir Alan’s former “global trouble-shooter” – and replacing the one that has gone bankrupt (!) was Alan Watts, a city litigator.

If you are currently looking for a job there are some basic lessons to be learnt just from last weeks show;
- James commented that he didn’t think that he’d get to the interview stage and as such made some less than professional comments on his CV/application – which when sat in-front of a panel of interviewers made him look like a joke and let him down big style. Take your application, CV and interview seriously – yes be light hearted when it is appropriate but don’t be a fool.
- Another one lying on their CV – have they never watched the show?? Well, actually maybe as Lee McQueen was the one hired last year after lying on his CV they thought it was a good move? Poor Lorraine could not cover her employment dates (extended by a year!) as a ‘misprint’ – you should always triple-check your CV, get someone else to check it and ensure that every part of what you have written is true and can be backed up! E-recruitment buddy have a CV Writing Service available to candidates so perhaps check out what we can offer you before you apply for jobs.
- References; is it just me or did Debra almost delight in what her previous Manager and work colleagues said about her!? One of them claimed she is ‘'loud, obnoxious and inexperienced, swearing and telling colleagues to F*** off”!! {I am not sure if it is illegal for giving an ex-employee a bad reference? I think you are on ‘dodgy grounds’ and if you don’t have a good word to say about them it is best to just confirm dates of employment, reason for leaving and sickness record, otherwise you could end up in court. Either way give a reference contact as someone who you have had a good relationship with and who isn’t about to ruin your chances of getting the job that you want.

I appreciate this is a TV show, they have to be brutal and rub the candidates up the wrong way, and of course it makes great viewing & gets us all talking. So do you think Kate will triumph to complete her as little miss perfect or will Yasmina storm through?

One last thought – did that interviewer (was it Claude) really not know what an SLA was!??