Friday, September 12th, 2008

What not to do when applying for a job!

There’s an excellent article on the Times Online, titled “What not to do when applying for a job.” It should cheer up anyone looking for a new career at the moment…

Mistake a job offer for a prank. “I phoned an applicant and said ‘It’s Dan Hawes here, I’d like to talk to you about a job’. She thought it was a wind-up. I said ‘no, no – I’ve got your CV in front of me and you’re suitable for a job’. She said ‘stop taking the …’ I spent 20 minutes trying to convince her but she still thought it was someone playing a trick so I just left it.”

See the full article here, or “What not to do when motivating people!” here.

Points I’d also recommend:

  • Don’t say you’re an expert - it back fires every time.
  • Don’t lie - if you don’t know the answer in an interview, don’t try to ‘blag’ it.
  • Spell checking - it takes one click and five minutes, it also stops you’re CV being the first in the Bin!
  • Read the job advert - and don’t go off on a tangent in your covering letter!
  • Don’t leave the “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” in the sample CV template you downloaded.

Top tip of all - a generic, downloaded template looks exactly like it is - a generic downloaded template. Taking the time to personalise the CV and Covering letter to a job will make the world of difference.

Posted by OneStepAheadCV on September 12th, 2008 | Filed in CV, Careers Advice, Covering Letter, Templates |



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