To find the job application and interview process tedious?

Completely agree... application forms are my current enemy.. and the worse ones are when you fill the whole application form plus the cover letter/statement
; the bit where it asks you what do you think you bring to this role blah blah blah...; and at the end you need to upload a copy of your CV too??
Makes you wonder- where is the use of all this? I have definitely been put off from applying to jobs when I see a huge application, and also why do they ask you for your National Insurance Number? You don't even have an interview yet? Like.. none of your business?
Big hug to everyone in the hunt and best of luck!!

I agree. Tedious and time-consuming.

Once you’ve got your cv up to date, and done a few, it does get easier, but still a relentless task.

I've applied for a few where you upload uour cv and it auto fills the relevant parts on the application form. Saves so much time.

I’ve applied for so many CS jobs that I’m capable of with all the experience, written it out, used the format, even paid for help on how to score and I’ve got 3’s or 4’s. Submitted same examples at same level for another job and got 6’s. It’s the worst recruitment system I’ve ever seen! I think technical questions are far better.

I'm only week 2 into this and it's exhausting. Cover letters always need re-writing and cv tweaked then hearing nothing back.

Also currently waiting on an interview time, got offered an interview yesterday for Monday. Said I couldn't make it as I was at a funeral and now I haven't heard anything back. Leaves you questioning what is going on! Will I actually have an interview or not.

DH is currently looking for a new job and is feeling the same. Coupled of course with the sheer performance nonsense about interviews - playing good cop/bad cop, asking you stupid questions about a job you don’t have yet when all you really need to know is if someone has the required skills/qualifications, will get on with the tasks required of them, and isn’t a weirdo!

@AdviceNeeded2024 I’ve given up on CS for that reason. I think it’s a ridiculous system. At sift they only review the paragraph answers, no review of skills, experience and qualifications. It’s really bizarre and of course subjective. I had one interview where I scored three 7’s and something like a 2 from memory in my particular area of expertise that I happen to have advised a CS department on in the past 🤯.

That’s when I gave up. That particular interview panel included people that wouldn’t necessarily understand the role I was interviewing for.

@Badbadbunny Thats pure genius he should be a CEO in no time flat

I agree and speaking to recruiters it is the worst year many have seen for two decades. I’ve been looking for six months. As of last month I’ve got three exec recruiters on the case and have got down to the last two in two different jobs. Feedback is that many roles are going internally.

It is tough going out there atm. The one thing about these recruitment firms is that they sell your CV and open doors. I’d really recommend registering with a couple in your line of work If you can.

You’re not wrong. I particularly hate competency based applications and interviews. I often think that they don’t get the best candidates (having been a hiring manager on the other side)

The Civil Service competencies are ridiculously difficult - I have no idea what they actually want you to write to score highly!!

Ulgh completely agree. Re-submitting your entire CV in a new format and then dutifully pointing out how you meet every single criteria of the person spec is SO dull.

I had a refreshing change recently when the application requested a CV and then answers to 3 questions/situations I might face in the role. I did really well at this and it gave me a chance to see what the role would be like.

However the interview itself then required a task completely beyond my ability in certain software - they had only mentioned some experience with it. I never would have applied knowing that was required. So wasted a whole days annual leave on that interview!

Job hunting is the pits

My son did 28 job applications for graduate scheme jobs in his final year at Uni. He said they were a pain in the arse, but he soon set up a table of all the information, so that he could just "copy and paste" into the boxes on the application forms. When he had to write something new in a box, he'd copy it and paste it into his table, to use it for the next application that asked the same question. He said that after the first few applications, it was all repetition and he could fill in the online applications pretty quickly just by copying and pasting.

Apparently the real "fun" (i.e time wastingly annoying) was when you get through the initial screening and onto pre-recording question & answer sessions, aptitude tests, online perseverence/ability "games", etc., which apparently had him losing the will the live!

Me too! I'm on a temporary contract that winds up soon so I'm job hunting again...

I'm so tired of having to list my employment history in eighteen different formats when I have a perfectly decent CV. Writing personal statements about how I fit the person spec just so, spending hours on the whole process and then never even hearing back. It's a numbers game but it's so bloody tedious.

I wish that application forms were binned full stop and CV’s were submitted instead.

I was made redundant and was working the equivalent of a full time job on applications and interviews. They are very involved in some industries.