PSA to job applicants: Follow Instructions!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Mmm, I hear you. At one of the clinics where I used to work, our ads always specified a hand-written cover letter, and every single damn time roughly half of the applicants would send a typed one. The clinic manager didn’t even bother to glance at what those actually said, just tossed 'em. I read a few of them, though, and one girl even put in her letter that she always went above and beyond to be professional, even typing this letter instead of hand-writing it.

Sorry, chickie. Doesn’t matter how professional you are if you’re not paying attention to details and countermanding instructions without even asking Doc why he wants it done that way. A patient who is killed by someone who acts professional is just as dead as one killed by someone who acts unprofessional, and not paying attention to what you’re doing or altering treatment orders without consultation will eventually kill a patient.

22

This is why I refuse to generate a boiler-plate cover letter, although if that T-letter is awesome enough I may use it (still waiting for the website to load). It takes me three times as long to submit a resume for a job than if I just whipped them out with a standard cover letter, but I feel more confident in my chances if I have something tailored precisely to the company and position. I just spent a good hour and a half writing and rewriting a cover letter for a copywriter position so it would convey exactly what I wanted it to convey.

Although now that y’all have reminded me about the keyword searching, I’m suddenly less confident that the cover letter will actually be read by someone. :frowning:

ETA: The T-letter website just loaded, and damn if that isn’t a good idea. I wish I’d found this thread before submitting that application just now.

23

Curious about the why (it’s an odd request in this day and age). Looking for legible handwriting?

24

If I were screening, the sentence “Please review my attached resume for consideration.” would be an automatic fail.

25

Maybe the requester is an eccentric who is going to have the handwriting analyzed. :smiley:

26

I can’t get the T-letter to load… waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

“can’t connect to the server”

27

Short version: Make a two-column table, listing the company’s requirements from the job ad on one side and your qualifications on the other. For instance, on one side you have “Bachelor’s Degree in English, Journalism, or Communications”. On the other side you put “Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from ABC University.” Put a short intro para in front and a short one after, and you’re good.

It makes sure keywords get picked by automated screeners and lines things up nicely for people reading the cover letter.

28

I understand your frustration, but look at it like this, it takes five seconds to open an attachment.

But you’re not going to get the best candidate, you’re going to get one with a lot of time on their hands.

It takes five seconds to open an attachment and hit scan a resume.

When I hired people I never looked at the cover letter, that’s redundant. I want a simple resume I can scan quickly.

The fact is I have been hired on jobs that state “you must have XXX.” They don’t get XXX.

Hiring managers are often very poorly skilled at getting the best employees.

I have been to places that only take applications on Tuesday from 2pm to 4pm. I found this incredible. I am not talking about interviews, I’m talking about filling out an application. I can see no harm in coming in Wednesday, taking the application, filling it out and leaving it with the H/R clerk for her to review at her convenience. But places do this.

This is a buyers market so companies can get awfully strange, but companies shouldn’t get lost in the fact, you still want the applicant with the best, skills NOT the one with time on their hands.

I remember back in the late 90s/early 00s, I would go in with my resume and they’d say, “Fill out an application,” I replied, “you have my resume, if you hire me I’ll fill one out then, otherwise it’s a complete waste of both of our time.” I never once had an objection to doing this. And I back filled in the application once I got the job.

Of course today’s job market is different, I fill in the applications.

Higly qualified people might have something better to do than busy work, so I would take the five seconds to open the attachment. But some jobs don’t require any skill either.

29

No, it’s a clinic; looking for illegible handwriting, no doubt.

30

This is no doubt then most interesting thread I’ve seen here a while…

Two people types on opposite sides of the wall…both with valid arguments.

This is getting good, don’t stop now…

Lets get ready to rumble YAY!!! :cool:

31

Though I haven’t been on the hiring side of the fence, I should think you also want the one that clearly put effort into their submission. I’d rather have someone a little less skilled who’s utterly into the job rather than someone skilled enough but couldn’t give two shits. I know as an employee I really despised my uncaring coworkers, even though they were competent enough.

Also, and this is more personal, most of the work I’m looking for is editing or copywriter jobs. A good cover letter theoretically illustrates my ability to write decent copy and proof it so there are no mistakes.

32

Hmm. What’s the best way to do the t-letter in an e-mail in plain text, since there are so many non-HTML readers out there? (I mean formatting-wise, of course.)

33

Probably bullet list, or for something punchier:

You want: Bachelor’s Degree in English, Journalism, or Communications
I have: Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Awesome U.

You want: 0-2 years experience
I have: 3 years experience

Something like that, anyway.

34

There are plenty of quality, qualified people, thanks to lots of mass layoffs, who make it easy for me to select them. They meet all my criteria. I don’t need to even look at the people who make it difficult.

I’ve got two basic, completely non-negotiable requirements. It would be like trying to get a trucking job without a CDL. Just won’t happen. Jesus could apply for all I care. No CDL, no job. (It’s not a trucking job. Just an example)

Because whomever is reviewing applications has set aside Tuesday from 4-5 to review resumes and make decisions on a short list, so calls can start getting made by his/her boss on Wednesday. I know everyone hates HR, but I think they actually do have other duties. They can’t stop every 45 minutes to review another resume and re-assess yesterday’s decisions.

It’s not about being strange, it’s about reducing the volume of applicants.

The last thing this position needs is someone with an “I can’t be bothered” attitude. This is not a senior position. It doesn’t require someone highly qualified, but it does require them to follow instructions, perform tasks as assigned without complaining, and complete all their work. Even if they decide it’s busywork.

For positions where it is hard to find good talent even these days you don’t usually advertise on Craigslist. You source them through your contacts.

Two years ago, I advertised for a similar position at my old company. Took two ad runs and a month to find the right person. Two years ago, “I’m not going to bother with your application” probably worked (Not to mention the late 90’s-- talk about a Sellers Market). Now it’s a very different place. I have some very specific and desirable skills and a large network of contacts in my industry, and it still took me 5 months to find a new job.

35

I think the problem is all of the conflicting information out there. Resumes should be no more than 1 page; 2 pages is fine, write a CV, etc. Don’t bother with a cover letter, it’s redundant. You MUST have a cover letter. Send a high quality paper copy of a resume, that will impress them. :wink: What part of “send your resume via email” did you not understand? Call the company and ask about the progress of your app, it shows that you are interested! Don’t call the company, they will call you if they are interested

I remember 15 years ago, if you applied for a job, you could hand in the application in person for an extra touch. People found that it showed initiative. Now it shows that you can’t follow directions.

Also, it used to be that you always got a response. Always. It was usually the “Thank you for applying for XXXX position. While your skills and qualifications are absolutely amazingly wonderful, unfortunately …” I know you have hundreds of applicants, but at least we could get a form rejection here. :slight_smile:

36

What it comes down to is that right now employers can impose whatever asinine application requirements they desire and anyone who doesn’t slavishly follow them is SOL.

37

I’ve used a modified version of the T-Letter to great success in the past. First, I scan the job ad and try to pick out what I think are the most important parts - these might be what were most emphasized or just which aspects my own experience matches most closely. Then I craft up a letter - standard “I saw your want ad” intro paragraph, quick intro about how I know I match up, the two-column T-letter bullets side by side (maybe 3 or 4 of these; I don’t go overboard), then a final “call me!” paragraph. It’s gotten great results.

You can also modify it even further to craft up a simple paragraph that states first the requirement, then your experience, sentence by sentence, instead of using the columns - I’ve done this too, and it also works well. Really, the point of the exercise is to get you thinking about what you can do for them, how you fulfill their needs, and how you can demonstrate that to them. Selling yourself, really.

I don’t know that I’d do what the T-Letter author recommends - just sending out your 2-column piece of paper (forgive me if I’m mischaracterizing; I haven’t read the article in some time). And not attaching a resume is simply daft, IMO. But it’s still excellent advice and a really good thing to practice.

38

Well, the conflicting information is definitely because people have different ideas about what makes a better impression, and generally they’re all right because it’s a subjective thing. Some people want to see all your work experience, some don’t want to have to read through several pages.

I’ve personally always found the concept of saying you, the applicant, will call the company to set up an interview to be completely reprehensible. I don’t have a sales mentality, and if I strain I can sort of see how that kind of initiative might impress people if you’re looking for a sales job, but the idea of essentially saying “I plan to be an imposition on your time” is abhorrent, and were I a hiring manager I would not want to even speak to that person.

Calling or writing after the interview, that I can get behind, because the company has already decided you’re worth at least that much.

The biggest problem right now is there’s a whole lot more people looking for work than there was 15 years ago, and if everyone showed up in person or called the company in order to make an impression the company would never get anything done. And once the company requests no phone calls or personal visits, yeah, you’re only being impolite and disrespectful if you do it anyway.

39

I see it the opposite way. I know that you have many applicants, but you also put an advertisement in the newspaper that said you were in need of a widget salesman. And I happen to be the best widget salesman in the eastern part of the U.S. and I want to call you to try to set something up.

How could that be an imposition on your time? I have exactly what you say that you need! You don’t want to hear from me? But you were the one that solicited someone with my skills! I thought you were looking for a widget salesman?

ETA: Now, I could see you being upset if I had never heard of a widget before, as that means I didn’t pay attention to your solicitation. But if I am otherwise qualified, I’m helping you out by calling.

40

Sales is a different animal, and is the only field where this is acceptable-- and might even be a plus if you can pull it off. You can probably get away with it if you really are the best in your field and someone I’d be dying to hire, and you’re calling because you’re so in-demand that you need to screen your job opportunities. But, a) most people have an overinflated sense of their own awesomeness and b) this advice is often given to new college grads and people who reading “how to get a job” books. I can’t tell you how much companies do not want that level of aggression and refusal to follow instructions in, say, their administrative assistants. I don’t need someone who might decide interrupting the CEO after I’ve explicitly told them all questions come through me because they think it shows initiative.

And extreme example:

My old boss was once hiring for a member of our team. We had 3 candidates on the short list. One of them sent a written note, emails to both of us, then phone calls to me, my boss, and his boss, whom she hadn’t even met, when boss and I hadn’t returned her voicemails. We crossed her off the list. She was young, and I felt bad for her, so I sent her a polite, friendly email telling her why. Her response was defensive and unprofessional. Apparently we didn’t appreciate a go-getter.

Personally, I didn’t appreciate the “Who is this person and why are they calling me for status updates?” from the VP for US Operations, but that’s just me.