How To Get Your Job Application Right

Applying for work seems like a never ending battle. You have spent the whole morning searching for a job and have applied to everything you have seen. Unfortunately you don’t get a single response and are left frustrated and question if these jobs even exist. This happens to many job seekers on a daily basis and since I have been in a recruiting position I have noticed common mistakes job seekers make right from the start.

1.) Read the job description
A point so obvious but one so often ignored

When applying for work it’s so important to read what is expected of you! I have had applicants from receptionists wanting to work as a system administrator. 99% of the time CV’s like this are automatically discarded. This is more common than one might want to admit and job seekers find they apply for work where they don’t meet the experience needed or even the qualifications. I emailed a job seeker back who had applied to every position we had available. We had about 15 positions and he applied to every single one. We were looking for degree relevant engineer’s who had a minimum of 10 years experience. He was a self taught carpenter. His reply to my email was that he was so desperate for work that he applied to everything he could. Unfortunately the job seeker in question pretty much wasted his morning to only feel more frustrated and fed up. If he had bothered searching further and more sites he probably would have had a better success.

2.) Personalize your job application
Even go as far as personalizing your CV / Resume. If they mentioned a skill in the job description that you don’t have listed in your CV – how are they to know if you have it or not?

On top of bulk applying to jobs each application never had an introduction letter. He didn’t even bother selling himself in any of the applications he sent out. This is a very common mistake! Today people send CV’s from mobile cell phones and as a recruiter what we receive is an attachment with a “text-speak” phrase like “application for job” in the email subject line and no body of text what so ever. No mention of the reference number or additional information that was requested in the first place. Worse still most people don’t setup their phone email correctly. Sender addresses come from default og@cvcoach2016.co.uk (eg userxxxx@yahoo.com )
addresses which when replied to bounce as non-existent because the email is invalid.

3.) Watch out for social etiquette
Just because they are on Facebook it doesn’t give you cart blanch to pester for a job. Remember you are dealing with a human on the other side and you could be reported for spamming!

In today’s social networking world we find many recruiting companies, job boards and independent recruiters that have their own Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn groups. I have also noticed a new trend of job seekers emerge where they comment each social share. This really amazing me! For example a job is shared onto all the networking sites and job seekers on LinkedIn will comment the job by leaving their email address. Not only have they completely ignored the original post but they have now also made their email address very public. A passerby scammer now knows a lot about you. Firstly he knows you are unemployed and he knows what type of job you would like. Most importantly he now knows how to contact you. Facebook job shares with a provided link now get troll comments like, phone number? Contact details please? How to apply? If the job fits something you would apply to simply click the link a get the relevant details from the original source. Don’t get yourself earmarked as a public nuisance. You could very well ruin your chances of ever gaining employment through the means you are using by annoying social admin staff.

4.) Read the apply details and carry them out as instructed
Remember to mention the reference number and add some details about yourself. Its all about selling yourself so don’t do it half heartily. Would you employ someone who put no effort into themselves?

Just remember that for every job you now apply to on a popular site there is a big chance, that that job has already received over 100 applicants. Don’t remove yourself from the shortlist by making a simple mistake. Read the advert and use the application method stated in the details. This can range from a request to register with the company website, to sending an email with covering letter to even phoning them up! Each recruiter will use a different method, this is their preferred method and they might have a very good reason for using this method. I have seen frustrated job seekers demand a restaurants phone number and have had busy restaurant managers flat out refuse because they don’t have the time to answer phone calls and answer questions to what has been explained in the job advert. Self employed plumbers out on the road might prefer if you call them as they hardly ever get time in front of a laptop so you sending emails might never get your application seen.