Why Are People So Bad At Applying For Jobs?
We're looking for some new hires and I just can't believe how many people don't know how to write even a half decent job application. How difficult is it to realize that you have to:
- Include a cover letter.
- Customize the cover letter so it is specific to the job you're applying for.
- Explain how you meet some of the key requirements in your cover letter and
- Customize your resume at least a little to highlight the most relevant things for the job you're applying to.
Applying to a million different jobs with a crappy application is far less likely to get you a job than applying to two or three with a really good application. Take the time to get it right and you'll find a job so much quicker and easier.
June 19th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
It seems to be endemic — the ones I’ve been reviewing sound like they could be the same ones.
Tell me: are these people with some amount of experience, or relatively graduates? We’ve seen a lot of grads (vaguely understandable for anyone who didn’t pay attention to employment counselling and/or didn’t pay attention in general), but also some people claiming some number of years’ experience.
June 20th, 2006 at 6:45 am
Both really. The inexperienced ones are usually just idiots who think that spamming their resumé to everyone will get them a job, but the experienced people are the worst because they usually believe they should get the job just because of their experience regardless of how bad their application is. The worst resumé I’ve ever seen came from an applicant with some 15-20 years experience.