Job Application: employer direct

As a recruiter, of course I would always prefer that as a job seeker you come to me over going to an employer to find a job. I get paid a fee for vetting out the unsuitable job applications, and reduce the time an employer takes to fill a job.

But I actually make more money in hard to fill positions, and employers are making more use of new Social Media. So more job seekers and potential employees are going direct: our are they?

Job application: jobs boards

Many job seekers find that the job they thought they were ideally qualified for in actual fact is advertised by a recruiter. In fact, in a recent straw poll, I found over 60% of the jobs on a well known jobs board were recruiter advertised over employer direct.

As I have said before, recruiters have tighter tolerances and a different view to an employer over who could fulfil a position. While both have the same core brief and view:

• Employers – are happy to accept less than ideal qualified candidates who could become a long term employee
• Recruiters – think as much about their future income as they do about the ability for the candidate to deliver results from day1.

Hence, many job seekers find if they apply via job boards to what are often recruiter advertised posts, they are rejected.

Job Application: quick

How do you solve this job seeking problem? Go direct, and try to avoid the jobs boards! One reason that so many jobs end up advertised on jobs boards is the cost of collecting CV’s for future roles, or those skills which know the market is short off. Jobs boards don’t do themselves any favours by competing on price, and hence the cost of that ideal job advert you see could be as low as zero to the recruiter/employer! Job boards often offer special deals for either new clients or repeat posts, and hence the effective cost of advertising could be zero.

When the cost is zero, you can see how 60% of jobs on a jobs board end up as recruiter adverts.

Job Application: employer direct

In example:
David, a part-qualified financial planner, asks: How do I find jobs direct with employers without going through recruitment agencies? I am fed up with being rejected. can you tell me where I can find many finance jobs where I do not have to go through recruitment agencies and can submit my CV for jobs directly to the employer?

In answer:
The key here is to make a direct job application to the employer and have a conversation, over using an anonymous internet process in which you will will be rejected.

Firstly, do some research. Define the job you want/are skilled for, and the geography in which you wish to work. Then – and here’s the useful use for job boards in a job search – see how many of those types of jobs you can find posted. less than 20, and you need to widen your job specification or geography.

Once you find your job search is possible, now make a list of target employers. Use free resources like Yell.com, Kelly’s Directory and your local newspaper: spot for the job adverts or read the business section. From this you need a list of around 50 potential employers.

Now go to the websites of each listed employer and see if they have an employment section. If they have posts advertised, then don’t fall back into the anonymous job seekers trap, by applying online. Either call first using a Telephone Interview technique called the Informational Interview, or even better attend some local networking events for the local professional society, in your case an IFA society or group.

If you can not make contact this way, either because you are remote, then see if you can use Social Media to make an online inside contact via a website like LinkedIn.

Going direct to employers make a lot of sense.

Good Luck!

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Reference: when in a job application?

John, a job seeker in sales, asks: I am in a good job at present, but looking to move soon. My question is, when should I seek to line up my references? Most of my old bosses/employers have moved on or gone out of business. Approaching some of my old customers in my present job would be inappropriate now, and my existing customers impossible until I hand in my notice, so I wouldn’t know what either would say. Help!

In answer:
Good question John, and the answer to your question is that you are asking the question at the correct time: get your references lined up BEFORE you get into a job application.

Employers will engage you because of you prove to them that you have:

• Technical Fit – you meet the minimum standard of the job description
• Social Fit – you fit in with their manager/team/organisation (in that order)
• Magnetic Fit – you and the organisation are going in the same direction, so that you won’t be leaving in 3months

But various studies have shown that should your references clash or not meet with one of the prospective employers expectations set by yourself through your job application, that all the hard work before means nothing, and you will not get the job.

Reference: Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll know who you are

Why will you get rejected? Think about it: the employer has known you for five minutes through their own job application process, and you have all the people you know to choose from. Yet the person you choose says something negative about you. The fact that you choose them as an employment reference and that they say something bad about you says more to the prospective employer than their job application process does: dismissed!

In summary, an old adage says: Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll know who you are.

If you follow a conventional employer led job application process, you need your references both lined up, briefed, and positive. How do you achieve this?

Reference: job application

The only way to address the question of references, is first to find and then vet your references. I always suggest to people that they have at least six references lined up. Most employers ask for two or three references, and if you have six then you have a series of different portfolio “pictures” of yourself. You can then choose the right reference for the right employer question that they need answering.

To find out who you can choose from, first make a list and then ask them to provide a recommendation on a business social networking site like LinkedIn. If someone is not willing to publicly say on LinkedIn that you are good/great, then why would they in any form of job reference? Secondly, if they give you a recommendation on LinkedIn, they can then hardly turn around and say something different in a job reference, can they?

Thirdly, using a networking site like LinkedIn – especially if you don’t suddenly have a burst of activity and recommendations come in, raising suspicion in your employers mind – means you can approach anyone on the site or you happen to have worked with/for/against/supply/buy/sold to. Now your potential references can come from old employers, existing work mates and old/new customers and suppliers; and even competitors you may have bid against on, and then chatted to at the bar at the next sector convention.

The easiest way to gain positive references via a business social network is to give positive recommendations. Don’t give them to anyone, but people who you truly would go to in times of either personal or business need, ideally both. In business, the ultimate question has to be: would or did you agree to pay this person for a service, that they then truly delivered? If yes, then satisfied customers are the best references.

Having completed this exercise, you now know who your reference friends are. You can now start briefing them on your job application aspirations. But had you thought about it – this is a whole new opportunity to find a job!

References and employment

If you ask someone for a reference, and they happily provide one, what does this say about your relationship with them?

It effectively means you now have a new advocate, who most likely having given you a positive reference would be willing to introduce you to their wider business contacts as a warm introduction. Secondly, if they are asked by someone in their network who do they know who could do a particular job, and that job description fits your skills, would they recommend you? If they have given you a reference, then most likely yes.

If such a person is willing to give you a reference, then they could have the inside track to your next position, secured through warm recommendation over a cold and competitive job application process.

So, next time you think about a job application, first act on gaining references. Rather than being an administrative task you have to worry about completing at the end of a job application, they could be a new route to a whole new and easily secured career opportunity.

Good Luck!

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Poor work history

One of the more serious problems faced when seeking employment is that of poor work history, most commonly with either gaps or a succession of terminated/dismissed reasons.

Termination or dismissal is easy to cope with in future job applications. The simple rules are:

• What does your reference say: if in doubt, ask for a copy
• Don’t get into the detail of anything: except what you learnt
• Know what you learnt: and therefore why this job is really right for you

Poor work history options

A poor work history where you have large gaps in employment is more difficult to cope with, as the employer doesn’t have any recent evidence of your ability or application. There are three basic ways to over come this, I would suggest in the following preference order:

• Volunteer: often dismissed, but if its unpaid it doesn’t affect your benefits
• Job Centres: when what you need is training over recent work history or application
• Self referencing: doing something yourself, such as a blog or similar. If that’s your choice, go and have a look at freelance websites such as People Per Hour, where at least you will get paid and have another party say how good your were

Employment with poor work history

James, a job seeker with a poor work history, asks: How can I secure decent employment with a very poor CV history and no-one for references? I haven’t much to show for on a CV over the last five years and I have so many gaps that I would have to explain. Basically it brings me out in a cold sweat thinking about it and I would have to lie big time which is a very insecure thing and I’m not very good at. I don’t have any decent employment referees or any one else who isn’t ‘a friend’ or ‘related.’ Sometimes I think I should fake my own death and start again. Maybe not.
In answer:
You are faced with three options:

1. Apply and lie: don’t do it – the moment you are found out, you can be dismissed instantly with no notice or redundancy
2. Training: your best route will be via the JobCentre. There are lots of retraining programs they offer, and subsidies on college schemes. You only need one certificate and a reference from a college – both of which can be achieved in less than 3months – for a real job
3. Volunteer: it is something the Americans are more aware of, but 12weeks of voluntary work will give you a solid base of experience and a reference.

Combine the last two, with a bit of self planning. Take three sheets of paper: on the first where you are now with your strengths and experiences; sheet two where you want to be in five years time – pictures give more magnetism; sheet three – how to get between sheets 1 and 2!

Take them down to the JobCentre, and have a discussion. Go down without some thought or planning, and you might end up somewhere you don’t want to to or regret later. They really can help you, and have the money (before 6th May) to do so.

Good Luck!

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Social media job rejection

Have you ever been rejected for a job, through what your social media profile says about you?

Think not, then think again. Media research shows that 70% of employers now deploy social media searches on post-CV skimmed job applicants.

Social media recruitment

Finding your Google CV is normally done after the paper CV sift (making sure you have the right Skills, Qualifications and Experiences combination for that job), but before the telephone interview (therefore generating more background and possible questions). Background checks, which cost from £30 to £500, are now only done just before/after a successful job interview.

Social Media mistakes

One of the reasons I wrote a guide on this for our Professional CV clients was because of the number of social media mistakes many job applicants are making. Here are some examples from actual job applicants to real jobs.

The simplest examples of mistakes can often be found in Yahoo! Answers, where many sub25 years olds ask free questions of the community. The most common questions are about CV structure, and what to write in the sections. This is where “what should I invent to put in” questions are often asked, and the answers are almost literally copied in to their CV. The worst example I have seen was a young lady who claimed to be a gym-bunny on her CV. But her open Bebo profile stated she was the local chip eating champion, with a link to a local newspaper article where she extolled the virtues of regular pub food.

The next step is factual inaccuracy, most commonly mistakes in not having consistent employed from/to dates in all of your profiles. Aside from regular slight quarterly mistakes, the best case I have ever seen was a chap who offset his technology experience by seven years, just to claim it was more recent than it actually was. Not quite sure how we would have got a reference, as the company had gone bust and someone had knocked down the building he claimed to work in.

The third example is being too open with regards choices in your personal life. I am a middle aged male Christian, but I am neither a prude or unaware that other life style choices are available: smoking was never my thing, and I hate needles, but as a DJ I took the occasional tablet in the booth, and there is still not a lot that can keep me from a pint of real ale. But no employer wants to hire a drug addict or an alcoholic. For an HGV job we had advertised, I checked a profile of an applicant to find his online name was spliffboy. To get an HGV license, you need to pass a compulsory DVLA drugs test. We had him in for interview, got him to confirm he was clean of drugs for a second time, and then showed him his social media profile. Sensibly, he withdrew his application for the job.

Rejection now from a job application may not be because you didn’t have the right combination of skills, qualifications and experiences, but simply that you self incriminated yourself in your social media profile.

Good Luck!

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CV Writing: career positioning

When CV Writing, many think tactically about what goes where and what they should insert/invent to fill out the sections they have created. This approach from the start creates holes in their job application, which even the inexperienced HR administrator or recruiter could pick up on very quickly.

The problem is that the story the job seeker has created doesn’t have consistency. A lack of consistency means gaps, gaps creates doubt, and doubt is sufficient human reason for rejection. All created by thinking about CV Writing structure and filling in the gaps.

With a Professional CV, the same consistency issue can easily create the same problems of rejection. But this confuses the professional job applicants, as they know they have the right combination of skills, qualifications and experiences: so why were they rejected? If they know it is not a failure to communicate their ability to do the job, and that they would fit that companies culture, then the reason often comes down to career positioning.

CV Writing: job interview

Any good CV Writing process should start with a career plan, or at least an idea of where your career is going. As I have said before and will say again, the key job interview question is Why do you want this job or one of its alternates such as Why is this job right for you? At this point you need an answer that makes the employer know that you know this job is right for you. How do you do this?

Firstly, you don’t invent an answer in the interview! Some candidates can, but they can not create the same effect twice in the interviewer across two interviews: consistency checking is hence why there are always two interviews for a professional position. So what you have to do is have a pre-planned answer, that comes form your career plan, or at least from where you know where you want to be next.

CV Writing: career plan

A career plan can be a difficult issue for many, so the way I have found to most easily address the consistency issue is to ask our Professional CV customers to start by thinking about their own Personal Elevator Pitch. During this process, many will come back to me and discover skills they never knew they had, or experiences that they never knew they wanted now to repeat. What this does for them is that the creation of a personal elevator pitch is secondary to them creating consistency in their job application approach: if they hadn’t done the exercise, they would have been rejected.

Most eventually come down to a personal elevator pitch which is a bit too long. In summary, it tries to get too many things in to what is supposed to be a 30second statement.

The reason for this is simply that for most job seekers, there is no ONE ideal next job. For most there are at least four streams of potential employment, and most often more. The client job seeker will then come back to me, and wonder how they kept the consistency in their job application, while allowing for the variances in their job application; while also thinking about how they answer the key interview question.

CV Writing: navigation

If you were the captain or navigator of a ship or an air plane, and I asked you to go form one point to another, you would most likely choose the most direct route. But, shall we say you gained advice that going via an alternate route, you could get to your destination quicker, or avoid a storm, or have a more pleasant journey. Then rightly, you might take that alternate route. Does this mean that you failed the task? No, you got from A to B, so you succeed.

The same is true of career positioning. If you have a clear enough end target or goal in mind, then the course you take to get there is the one most suited to you, the goal you have in mind, and the environment in which you currently find yourself.

There could be a whole number of different jobs which get you to where you want to be, its just a matter of choice. To get consistency in that choice, and to be able to clearly communicate it, you need to define a clear range of positions which would suit a logical and consistent journey to the end target.

Career positioning

If you look back at your career, you most likely started out in a specialist technical skill (eg: engineer, accountant, HR manager, sales, etc), inside an industry (ie: insurance, local government, finance, banking, telecoms). If you are ten or more years into your career, then most likely at some point you have managed some people, either a virtual group inside a project or directly as a line manager.

In career positioning, this gives you three strings:

• Specialist operator skills
• Market sector skills and knowledge
• Managerial skills

The ideal personal elevator pitch says that you are an X in a Y market, eg:

• I am a managerial account inside the insurance sector
• I am a sales manager inside the telecoms sector
• I am an HR manager in Local Government

Any consistent career move should fit along one of these three strings. Modern HR practise in career positioning and planning uses a scaled risk model based on Ansoff’s product market growth matrix, and hence a consistent career position can translate into:

• Managerial account inside the insurance sector: could next move to be an account in a different market, or another managerial post in insurance
• Sales manager inside the telecoms sector: could move next to another sales manager position another market, or another managerial position in telecoms
• HR manager in Local Government: could move into HR management in another market, or a non-HR position in Local Government

All we are using here to create consistency is personal vision/drive (through the personal elevator pitch) and logic of next career move. But we have also opened up the full breadth of what is your next logical career step from one job, to a multitude of logical and explainable opportunities and hence possible consistent outcomes.

The fact you choose that employer finally fits both the logic of the matrix, and that having met them, you and they have social and magnetic fit. It is the best outcome for all, and one that you can now communicate with conviction at your second interview to get you that dream job.

Good Luck!

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Worst CV ever?

Kay, an HR manager, asks: As a hiring manager or recruiter, what was the WORST CV that you ever laid eyes on and why? I would say the worst I have ever seen (this was years ago) was hand written in pencil which compelled me no less to read on. It was pitiful, needless to say, but it for some reason humbled me and I felt momentarily compassionate for this person who seemed to be trying. I know you are asking, “did you hire this person”…no of course not, I didn’t. But it was certainly an unforgettable CV.

In answer:
Interesting question! I’ve seen the pencil one – and yes they are humbling.

When I was in the corporate world, I did some vetting on CV’s for my and a colleagues team during a recruitment exercise, and picked out a group that I thought looked right. My colleague then doubled checked them, to agree those we were going to interview. There was only one he disagreed with. I hadn’t picked it up, but the applicant had worked with him four years ago, and to make the standard for the advertised job had copied the job my colleague was doing at that point. That should never be done on any job application, but is easily picked up by HR on an internal job posting.

But the best was from a lady. I knew it was bad because a researcher started laughing, and just couldn’t stop laughing. She beckoned me over with a red face, still laughing, and handed me the CV. Line3 was the answer. It took us about 15mins before we read past line3, and her skills were excellent, but on line3 was her eMail address.

This is a professional blog, so I won’t detail what her email address was, but lets they say she must have thought of sex constantly with more than one person!

Some times, things which you may place in a draft CV/resume, you miss when they are placed in the final version. Always have it read through by at least three people, or use a CV review service.

Good Luck!

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Job Search: qualifications transfer

Tauraz asks: I am a Overseas Qualified Pharmacist, but due to regulations in the UK, I cant practice as a Pharmacist. I completed a Masters degree in Business from a very reputed UK University and I have 3 months experience as a Territory Manager selling Speciality products (Vaccines-Hormones). I presently work as a Butcher in a supermarket because I am not getting a job as a Medical Sales professional. I get numerous calls from consultancies saying that my CV is good, but they say I don’t have any experience in the UK Pharmaceutical industry and hence they turn down my application. I tried to get a shadowing experience, but nobody is ready to allow me shadow them as they say their companies do not encourage this practice. How I can get somebody to allow me to work shadow them and use their name in my CV, so that I can land a job as a Pharmaceutical Sales professional?

In answer:
As an overseas individual, you are not in a unique position. It is the same if a UK resident qualified professional decides to move overseas, then they have to localise their qualifications for recognition.

There are two reasons why localisation takes place. Firstly the standards of training, and secondly the standards and methods of operation. The first is a quality issue, the second is a local practises and regulation issue. Hence even if your qualifications are accepted, most have to spend between 12months and three years under some form of training/supervision. The process is the same for every professional, from electricians to surgeons.

Hence, at present you are not solving the employers problem, you are creating a bigger unknown one. Employers don’t like unknowns, hence they reject you!

Job Search: qualifications

The first thing to do is to register with the local regulating professional body. In the UK that is the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Each society has a standards and qualifications board, which you will need to take advice from re transferring your qualifications to local recognition. At some point, you will also need to register with the NHS as a pharmacist, but let the BPS tell you when. The BPS will advise you on the acceptance of your Masters degree locally, and may tell you that additional or transference training is required. Secondly they will advise on local procedures and methods acceptance, and how best to gain those.

Part of the solution is finding a professional society (ie: BPS pharmacist) mentor to supervise your localisation, which is the quickest route to a job. You will have access to a locally based and qualified professional in your area, who is a working in the profession. There should also be local groups who meet regularly, which I suggest you start attending: again, great networking/job opportunities.

No local employer in pharmacy will accept you until you have started localisation. When you apply, and can’t tell them what you have to do to localise your qualifications, they will see that as a problem/cost, and with lots of other unemployed people out there they will look elsewhere.

Secondly, as you don’t suggest in your answer that you have any form of sales training, the same reason for rejection will presently occur with sales posts. Further, if your accent is hard to understand over the telephone, and you have no apparent localised pharmacy connections, then again you will be rejected.

Job Search: transfer plan

I suggest as a plan forward, you contact the BPS and understand what you need to do to localise your qualifications. In three months time, once you have registered with the BPS, attended a few meetings, have a BPS mentor and a master plan on when you will qualify, then look again at jobs in the Pharma sector.

On last thought: very few medical professionals hang around Social Media. LinkedIn would be the best place to start, if you don’t know where the professionals for that body locally congregate on the internet. I have a few BPS friends over there who register for networking, although they tend to go elsewhere for pharma chat – LI is not secure enough.

Good Luck, and if you think I could help – just ask!

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Best Job Application method?

Daisy, an HR Specialist, asks: I saw a temp job advertised on a job board by a specialist (HR industry) recruitment agency. They’d changed the title slightly, but by looking at the skills being asked for / doing a bit of detective work, I was able to locate what was obviously the same job on the website of the client company (a very big one) only on a permanent basis. I assume they must be looking for someone as a temp until they fill the slot? I’d actually be interested in either as I was recently made redundant. I know that many companies in my sector, and especially in London, prefer to use recruitment agents, despite there being a fee (ironic given I’m in HR). My question is, were I to post my CV directly to the company’s website, is it less likely to be looked at than if a recruitment consultant put me forward? Do companies genuinely use their own recruitment sites at all or are they there “for show”? I’ve only ever made career moves with agencies to date and it seems the only way to get a job in London …

In answer:
I’m a recruiter, and I am going to tell you to that the Best Job Application method is – Go Direct!

Firstly, accept that recruiters and companies have different agendas. Recruiters want placements, because that equals money; companies want employees, because that means competitive advantage.

Secondly, accept that recruiters have tighter standards than employers. If I send you into my client, you represent you and my brand. If you are awful, I might lose a position on the PSL (Preferred Supplier List). Hence, recruiters will always be cautious and only send in people who will represent their brand well.

Thirdly, much as though the agency may be good, the recruiter may not – and visa versa. Go direct and you cut-out the risky/unknown middle man and speak right to the people who you would have spoken to anyway at some point in the future had you been successful getting past the recruiter.

Finally, this job is in HR. If you were applying for an operational job, I would be advising you to go direct to the head of operations for that department. As this job is in HR, ringing directly and applying means you are there already.

The reason I am in the recruitment business is because there are so many bad recruiters: it creates a huge opportunity. Do yourself a favour and go in directly.

Good Luck!

Supplemental:
Thanks for your honesty Ian! Recruiters are usually keen to put me forward for roles after meeting/talking to me: I come across well at interview, so they expand on my CV. However,I had a bad experience with one last year, hence my trepidation: this guy found my CV online, called me at work (he clearly googled it and called reception – very bad practice) then submitted my CV, which was a near perfect match for quite a niche HR role. After a couple of weeks he told me that I hadn’t got through for interview. However, in the interim I had a couple of very professional agents, who I’d met, signed up with formally and trusted, call me re: the same role. Both were surprised to hear I hadn’t got through, and suspected that this guy might not be on said company’s contracted agencies list. She explained that as I’d already been put forward by this guy, I wouldn’t be able to get the job unless it was through him, as he’d introduced me.

Further answer:
The competitive nature of recruiting means, that if a recruiter sees a great candidate or one with skills they know are short in their market, that they know would fit an actual or perceived employers brief – be they on the PSL or not – will often grab that CV and send it off, without talking to the candidate first. Hence you end up with situations like you did, where you are barred from applying for a job because an entrepreneurial shark has blocked your application through their ambition. They don’t care, because next week they will have another “ideal” candidate, but in the mean time you are blocked from application to that job.

You need to keep control of your CV. Don’t openly post it to numerous job boards, keep your key details off of the it, and always keep security high to ensure that anyone – employer or recruiter – needs your permission FIRST and an actual position BEFORE they can download a full version. You have to be careful.

Good Luck!

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Why you need a CV

Steve, a job seeker, asks: Why do you need a CV? Having been applying for jobs in the last few months, I am always asked to fill in a job application form; or if you email your CV, then they send you and application pack. I don’t understand why you need a CV when they don’t what it anyway. You go to all the trouble of doing a CV and then you have to fill in an application form – why?

In answer:
Because they wouldn’t send you the job application form, without you sending a CV in first!

The CV excites their interest, but legally you can lie on a CV. So the employer or recruiter sends you a job application form so that if you lie, they can instantly sack you with no notice/no redundancy. The application form is there as a legal belt and braces.

If you find you are always having to fill out job application forms, then you are applying to big employers. Smaller employers will just want a CV initially, and then after first interview if they are legally savvy will get you to fill out the job application form.

It sounds like the major mistake you are making at present is being reactive to employers, ie always applying via job boards. If you applied to employers you wanted to work for, you would be using your CV more. That method has far less competition and far more success of interview.

Good Luck!

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Quality Job Applicant

As an engineer, it always annoys me when scientific words are miss-used, particularly in marketing applications. For instance, the word quality. As a recruiter, I often hear employer clients say “Thank you. That was a quality job applicant.” Where as actually, if they said anything else, I would see that as failure to fulfil my role – failure, to be a quality recruiter, and do my job.

What is quality?

The word quality today in common language usage means better or best. How often have you heard the phrase “this is a high quality item” used by a sales person or advert?

If you look up the word quality in a dictionary, then it says: “Quality: conformance to specification.” Note, there is a complete lack of reference to good, bad or indifferent; it is purely a relative to measurement, not an as high/good as measurement.

Hence, anything can be a good or bad quality item. Both a Rolls Royce and a Moskvitch are quality cars if they perform in the way in which they were designed and marketed. The fact that one may breakdown more than the other doesn’t make it a bad quality car, it just makes it a lower specification vehicle.

Be a quality job applicant

To be a quality job applicant is quite simple and easy: you just have to read the job advert! Try the following test from our Why Was I Rejected test:

1. Print out the first page of your CV/Resume – no need for the rest of it
2. Fold it in half along the long side of the A4 sheet of paper. Now tear it in half, so you have two separate pieces of paper for the top and bottom halves
3. Take the advert for the job you are applying for, and using a highlighter pen mark out the key skill requirements – no more than five, if in doubt the first five they list
4. Take the top half of the first page of your CV/Resume (much like the rest of it – no need for the bottom half) and using the advert as a template, find the same five skills in the top half page of your CV/Resume
5. Now see if you can find your name, telephone number and eMail address on the same marked top half

If you can’t find the skill requirements from the job advert, and can’t find your contact details, then you will never be a quality job applicant for that job.

The fact you also have a cover letter which doesn’t address these points may mean even that half sheet of paper is never seen by anything more than a temp secretary tasked with reviewing a whole pile of similar applicants, to “find those who meet the job’s basic criteria.” Even if the review process is undertaken by me/any other recruiter or a professional HR manager, then if it doesn’t pass that test in our minds – rejected, not a quality job applicant.

Quality Job Application

If you want more job interviews, and be seen as a quality job applicant that employers want to interview, simply: read the job advert.

Good Luck!

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