You wonder what you are doing wrong but just can't seem to figure it out. The chances are that you are so desperate for work that you have become a robot and quickly zap your CV off to every job that you see adding no personality to your application. See it from the point of view of the recruiter. They post a job and receive a substantial amount of applicants. A lot of those applicants are going to have a great CV, application letter and their online resume is completely filled out and up to date. Now imagine receiving an application from someone who doesn't send their CV, a one lined sentence as their application or from what I have received before, simply -"job" - in the email body (No CV attached!). Would you hire that guy?
Job seeker competition has risen substantially over the last few years and at the same time there are still a lot of jobs out there. If you want to stay ahead of the pack and really want that job you will need to put in a lot more effort.
Due to social networking a new trend is starting where job seekers will reply to a wall post by submitting their email address or saying -"I'm interested"- in reply to a recruiter sharing a job post onto their group. Many times you will notice that these wall posts go uncommented by the original poster. If the job seeker can't click though on the job link how computer literate can they be?
When you submit your CV to a job board always ensure that you fill out as much as possible. The less you fill out the less likely you are to be found. Most job boards use some type of search functionality and the more you fill out, the bigger the chance you have of coming up in search results. Most job boards will require that you upload your CV and just because you are given this option it should not deter you from filling out your online application. Your CV attachment will be there for when a recruiter is satisfied with your online profile and they want to take it to the next step.
Having everything filled out beforehand saves a lot of time and frustration from emails being sent back and forth. Recruiters don't want and a lot of the times don't have time to be requesting CV's, requesting that you give more information on yourself etc. Remember that if you are one of 400 people that have applied to a job and even if qualified you will be dropped from the short list. You also stand a chance of not even receiving a confirmation that your application is being processed.
If you are specialised in your field or have picked up certain skills due to your job it will be worth mentioning them rather than giving them your general bullet list. If you have gained experience on certain machinery mention it in full and mention the make. You might be familiar with what you did but the person who screens your CV won't be. Recruiters won't have all the knowledge of your field and during screening your CV will be searched for particular mentions of skills. If you don't mention it in full, you will be skipped.
Specialized job board's can often have greater results than a big general one. For example, if you are specialized in oil and gas engineering your job search will bring you across a number of oil and gas job boards. Select a few and fill out your CV details as much as possible. Always have a look at the employers who are advertising on the website and especially which recruiters are posting adverts. Always read the job vacancy description. If a degree is required, no amount of desperation will get you the job. If you don't have a degree you won't get the position and probably not even a response to tell you that you don't have a degree.
To sum it up when applying to work remember the golden rule, "It's not about quantity it's about quality." You will then find you are called for more interviews and reduce your time spent on job hunting.
This article was written by David Kimberley who manages an online oil and gas job board. The advice mentioned is so job seekers can be better informed about applying for work online.
0 comments:
Post a Comment