Do Us A Favour..

I’m not one for grumbling, but after four months grinding through the daily job application cycle, it’s time for a little vent. I know recruiting for new people is a challenge, but there are a few things recruiters could be doing to make things a little easier for those of us looking for work. Finding a job isn’t easy (I appreciate that finding the right person for a role isn’t either) but most of us in the redundancy boat are worrying about paying bills, taking care of the family and keeping positive. So please do me a favour..

Please don’t leave me hanging.

Please Don’t Leave Me HangingAbove all else, If you say you’ll get back to me, then get back to me. There’s nothing worse to be left waiting for the phone to ring day in day out wondering where things are. I know you’re busy, but don’t promise to be in touch unless you’re sure you’ll be able too. I’d rather hear bad news, than no news. Don’t worry; I can take it.

Don’t ghost me

We’ve spoken five times over the last two days, talking about my application, and loads of emails have flown between us. Then suddenly you vanish. The last I knew you’d submitted the CV I’d just spent hours customising for the role we were applying for, and since then I’ve heard nothing. You also seem to be ignoring the answerphone messages I’m leaving you. Where’ve you gone? What have I done wrong? I thought you cared.

Please don’t make me jump through unnecessary hoops.

My CV contains 99% of the information you’ll need to decide if I’m a good fit for your role, and the chances are that my covering letter tops up anything missing. So once I’ve answered your request to submit my CV, please don’t signpost me to your website and numerous online forms, only to make me re-enter all of the same information again. It’s going to take me an age to work through a clunky set of forms, only for a second after hitting ‘SUBMIT, an email bounce-back telling me that my application has been unsuccessful. It’s incredibly annoying, and please at least tell me why I don’t fit. There’s enough parsing tech out there now to make this an automated process, and there’s no real reason not to use it other than penny-pinching.

Be more descriptive

It’s going to help us both if you add a little more detail to the job title your advertising, rather than using something generic. For instance, instead of advertising a role as ‘Project Manager’, promote it as ‘IT Project Manager’, or ‘Construction Project Manager’. It means that I don’t have to trawl through roles that I’m not interested in, and also means that you won’t be getting applications that aren’t relevant.

Oh, and why we’re talking about job listings, please keep the business speak to a minimum. Often less of more. I cringe every time I see a position looking for a ‘confident self-starter’ who can transform the business environment and challenge the company’s preconceptions and attitude’. It means nothing. Everyone should be doing that anyway, and in all honesty, whos going to look at it and say, ‘Nah, that’s not me’. It’s business speak for the sake of business-speak and is unnecessary.

Finally, be honest, and please give me feedback to why I’ve been unsuccessful for a role. I think I’m great (remember, I’m a confident self-starter’ who can transform the business environment and challenge the companies preconceptions and attitude’). So I want to know why you think I’m not a good fit for this role, why the other person was and what I could have done better. Don’t worry. I can handle the reasons for rejection. I’ve had plenty of recent experience.