about poxy job application forms and interviews....

[cat]

Ok. So I've been applying for new jobs - and am at all the stupid, generic forms you have to fill in.

The questions are fucking stupid. Why do you want this job? Well why do you fucking think . Yep I know I should blab on about career progression yada yada, but we all know it's 9 times out of 10 for the money/hours/location.

Why can't I just send my CV? It's a carefully crafted piece of work that has been updated and modified over the years. Surely you can tell more about someone from their personalised CV then you can from your daft, shitty online form?

Then, if they do offer you an interview, you have to produce some shite presentation to a roomful of people who are either wankers or half asleep.

Then come the inane, mindless questions...

Tell us about a time you showed initiative at work... Fuck off.

What do you feel your weaknesses are?... Fuck off

What can you bring to our company?... Double fuck off.

Then if you get past that pile o bollox - you might be lucky to be invited to a second interview. And made to jump through more pointless hoops.

My friend went to a group interview once and they all had to stand in a room and pretend they were in a nightclub. Dancing and everything. I shit you not.

HR people are cruel fuckers.

[jkklpu]

Sorry, but yabu. If you look at it from the employer's pov, which you should be doing, they want to know that you're motivated, have actually done a bit of reasearch into their organisation, and that you're not just sending 500 copies of your CV to all and sundry. If you want them to read your application, possibly out of hundreds they'll receive, you need to show you've made an effort to tailor it to them. Otherwise, it won't make it on to the long, let alone shortlist.

So, if you want a job, follow the guidelines.

[Fairyloo]

That's the spirit

[Northernlurker]

Recruitment should be done fairly - so if everybody fills in the same boxes on the same form then you know everybody has an equal opportunity to put forward everything they've got.

Interview questions are about finding out about the candidate and their suitability for the role. I interview regularly as part of my job. i don't ask mindless questions but certainly have heard mindless answers.

Frankly your attitude stinks. I would suggest you try and correct that before expecting anybody to be keen to employ you.

[cat]

Nah. My attitude isn't like this in RL.

Just venting on here. It is AIBU after all so I expected the POs to rock up sooner rather than later

[LaFataTurchina]

LOL at pretending to be in a night club - I would love that! I love all daft pretend scenarios in interviews.

Cat - I know how you feel as I'm also job hunting, For me, I find it helpful to remember other times in life where I've had to jump through hoops in order to get what I wanted.
My really big hoop was A-level biology which I was horrendous at and sixth form wouldn't let me drop. Eventually, through a lot of blood, sweat, tears and a module retake I got a B which helped me a lot in getting uni offers. At the time, it really did seem like the most pointless waste of time learning about cells/the kidneys/the reproductive cycle of a sheep!! but now I can look back and find it funny because it got me a uni place, something I really wanted.
Hope that helps! (probably not, my mates all tell me I'm not the best at giving advice!)

[5Foot5]

I sympathise with you alot with the application form versus CV issue.

Most jobs I have gone for, with the exception of my first graduate job, only wanted to see my CV.

When I applied for my current job an agent sent my CV straight to the Head of IT who selected me for interview based on its contents. I subsequently had the interview and was offered the job - at which point HR decided I must fill in an application form. "Huh- but you have already made me an offer in writing!" Nevertheless the jobsworths insisted I fill in their generic application form which bore no relevance at all to the post I was applying for. If I had been a school leaver going to work in one of the branches then I could see the point but other than that - not really.

[Bubblemoon]

I'm an HR Fucker and YANBU. The forms are a pain in the arse to complete and also to have to read if you are the recruiter. Pages and pages of the same old same old boring nonsense the applicants think you want to hear. What's wrong with a CV, with the all the info on.

[edam]

I agree with you. My company insists on application forms and as a recruiter I find them really irritating. I have to jump around looking at different sections to find the key information I need to compare candidates, especially as we have to use the box-ticking scoring system for must-have quals and experience and desirable stuff. Reading CVs is far simpler.

[ErrorError]

YANBU - The worst of these generic forms I've done are the ones where they also want you to write out your quals and work history in the boxes... and yet if it's an "also enclose your CV" application, then I'm thinking why the bloody hell do I have to write it out again when the info is already clearly on my CV! Pet peeve!

I have worked in HR as well and nearly every applicant has the same "I am a hard-working, outgoing individual with excellent communication and transferable skills" spiel, because they're telling you what you want to hear. If everyone has those exact qualities then how were we supposed to find the exceptional candidate. The problem usually lies in the awful form questions, there really is no other way to answer them without being instantly written off.

[LondonMother]

What I want to know is how you can really have legislation against age discrimiination at the same time as requiring applicants to put the dates they took exams and to provide a full job history so they know you haven't been in prison. The last job I thought about applying for asked me to say what salary I'd earned in all my previous jobs - that's 30 years+ in my case! Didn't bother in the end.

[heartmoonshadow]

YANBU - those forms are as error says for everyone to fill in and can become generic. They are mind numbing to fill in and mind numbing to read. As for interview styles I have been to quite a few group and individual and they all are basically rubbish because mostly the person they give the job to has been chosen before they walk in.

I have been in the supervisor/manager role and this has been the case of one male boss who made it clear that he wanted to take on a male (in a female dominated industry where 3 staff were pregnant or on maternity leave and 1 was off due to a hysterectomy). He was clearly under qualified he simply did not have the required skills and would not fit in at all in the office for this alone. The had also put under hobbies 'I like to play golf and I have my own clubs and I like trains'.

Worst ever interview question was a few years ago - if you were a dog what would you be? I longed to say a Rottweiler - I take no nonsense from anyone but ended up saying some bull about a border collie, keen, loyal and intelligent it was such bull made up on the spot. Needless to say I didn't get the job a fella did, the only one of 6 interviewees I saw that day!

[steben]

I don't think YABU to be honest or is a massive pain but necessary - my one request would be a generic application form which could be adapted so you need only answer the job specific questions! I applied for loads of jobs last year and spent hours filling out each bloody form with job history, details etc.... I know the NHS do something similar on their website. Good luck in your job search OP!

[cat]

Good point re the age thing London.

Bring back the CV and the good old cover letter I reckon.

[2rebecca]

We got CVs and cover letters for jobs we recently advertised. We do want to know "why this job" though. Mainly to get an idea of how long someone will stay with us and if it's our job that appeals or any job. We've never had personalised application forms but if we did the questions on them would have been thought out. Many cvs are impersonal and tell you little about the applicant's personality and their future aims. A good cover letter should do this though.
Agree the interview questions are fairly trite but the questions are usually predictable so you just prepare for them. I suspect the people who are best at the "tell me about a scenario where you showed initiative" questions are the best bullshitters and story tellers so I avoid those questions when interviewing..

[teaandthorazine]

YANBU.

You can tell an awful lot from a CV and a cover letter - far more than from a generic application form.

[MadgeHarvey]

YANBU at all.

I'd post more but I've shat myself laughing at this -

Tell us about a time you showed initiative at work... Fuck off.

What do you feel your weaknesses are?... Fuck off

What can you bring to our company?... Double fuck off.