Just spent three hours filling out a job application

[womaninatightspot]

What is wrong with a CV? Is it just to filter out time wasters who bung a cv at everything as evidence for UC.

Really hoping I get it though. I’ve been doing filler jobs since Dc and this would be first step onto more professional job. Tell me your stories of tricky job applications that ended well. If you’ve got time to kill.

Lots of employers are saying they can't get the staff at the moment, people not turning up for interviews etc. I wonder why!

It's been that way for years in my field. Utterly stupid. Terrible, non-relevant CVs are great for screening.

And don't get me started on long applications for jobs with no salary posted. I hate you before you've interviewed me!

I hear you, it’s a bloody nightmare. I’m looking at the moment and some of the forms are so poorly designed.
I’m of a certain age and have done 3 sensible jobs and lots of part time/ freelance work that overlap so the rigid timelines don’t work nor does the “explain any gaps”. I can’t really remember dates either because the go back 30 years.
The forms that require you to put in grades for GCSE’s or in my case O levels which don’t even exist.
And then there’s the blind application forms. Which are clearly bollocks.
I’ve been on MN loads this week as I am procrastinating madly.

My current job took me 4 hours to complete the online form. At my previous job we were all given 2 hours allocated time to spend on our personal development so i filled half of it in then😂.

Got the job after a 4 part interview/assessment day😵, the day before my hen do 🤣.

Been working for the company ever since and currently on a one year maternity leave majority paid for by the company (,6 months full pay, 12 weeks accrued annual leave).

Was a pain but worked for me

I remember before online forms, I had almost completed a detailed application form when I noticed it said in small writing 'Use a black pen not blue'

Oh well, I posted it anyway - no response.

(I think in those days blue pen did not photocopy so well)

@lightisnotwhite Totally agree. Those application forms are really designed for people with a very traditional, linear work history. They are very unfair for people who've done a lot of temp work, or overlapping second jobs etc.

Just let us send in a CV. I'm happy to write a detailed covering letter saying how I meet the requirements if you want.

I find it annoying that jobs are all now listed online. Not online on the company website, but lurking online on a myriad of job vacancy websites. Many of which keep adverts 'live' long past their sell by date.
I used to enjoy thumbing through the pages of the local newspaper.

I think companies must miss out on some good staff because of this. I nearly gave up applying for the job I now have because I’d a nightmare application form. When I joined, one of the things I did was to get to application process changed so that it was more user-friendly.

Houseplantmad 👏👏👏

I agree, I’ve applied for a few jobs recently and good god some of the forms are ridiculous.

I especially hate the online ones where you can’t look ahead to the next section to prep your answers - I’ve taken to adding any old thing and copying the questions out, then going back and adding in the answers before submitting, so irritating & time consuming.

That drives me bonkers as well. Especially when you have to register to apply then the link takes you nowhere. Then they send you a lot of emails about completely irrelevant jobs. I used to like reading the job listings in the evening news ( local afternoon paper). I also used to like browsing job boards at local job centre.

Im really hopeful about this job it’s LA. I work for them but via agency and my contract ends soon. My supervisor has said he’ll put in a good word, he works directly for LA, so hopefully that helps.

Oh yes, I remember one where I had to write a personal statement explaining in detail how I met every single criteria point on the job description. There were 18 points! It took forever, and they never even got back to me.

I’m thinking of changing jobs. It’s a bloody nightmare just looking too. One job required a degree and experience it wasn’t paying that much more than I’m on already. You don’t need a degree to do my line of work.

Then I look at a job description and it sounds great, and it ticks all the boxes and then they offer NMW or slightly above it. They want you to go fit and interview, then a test, then a second interview. Not sure how much time these employers think you get off? Do they expect you to take annual leave with your current job every time? You might not even get it as an internal candidate was already chosen.

On the plus side, there will be fewer applicants as it will have put many others off.

Good luck!

I'm job hunting at the moment and it's soul destroying. Not applied for a new job for over 20 years. I think my CV is probably not up to scratch, should it be mostly bullet pointed? 🤔

I was approached about a job recently and it seemed to be something that I'd be interested in so I replied saying I'd like to find out more. The next email I got was giving me a project to read details of the role and business which they predicted would take around two hours, then produce a 30 minute video of just me talking about how I would approach the role. They wanted this within 48 hours 😁

I was away on holiday so politely replied to say it wasn't possible for me to do so and withdrew my interest. Seriously though, even if I hadn't been on holiday i have a full time job and life! They approached me presumably as I have a good reputation in the industry so no idea how they imagined I'd be happy to ignore my current job to jump through their hoops!
Recruitment is bonkers now!

I agree it's bonkers. A recruitment consultant friend says companies find it hard to recruit, which is why they use agencies. I say they'd find recruitment a whole lot easier if they didn't make the process so complicated (and very often, irrelevant!)

yes, that's my memory the last application I did. It took about 2 days, so I think 3 hours to finish a job application is not too bad.

Fingers crossed!

Mines isn’t. So maybe a good thing I had to fill in an application form! Go on one of the recruitment. Websites. I used indeed and create a c.v. That way it’s templated for you and you can download it.

I work in HR and overcomplicated, long winded, pointless application processes drive me bonkers. I once spent the best part of a day applying for a job (only because I really wanted to work there), loads of key questions, a massive supporting statement explaining how I meet all the (very many) criteria plus a cv to attach as well. Just why.

I did join one organisation and my first action was to change the application process. Turned out the very junior HR assistant was just copying and pasting the very very extensive and totally unnecessary job and person specification requirements into the online system, making it compulsory for candidates to address every single criteria. Managers got told to cut the requirements down to the bare minimum needed for shortlisting. HR assistant got told to use their initiative...... Suddenly we were getting more & better applicants for jobs - quelle surprise!

Unfortunately I now work for the civil service - don't get me started on their (rigid, excessive, bureaucratic, unnecessary, painful) application processes!

@LemonGelato was just about to say don't get me started on the civil service!

Really interesting thread! I thought I was being unreasonable by being totally put off by these never ending applications forms.

As a team manager, I always made sure we only asked for a CV and a concise supporting statement for any roles we advertised.

I was looking for a new job recently and I must say I prioritised job opportunities that did not require an application form.

Maybe employers need to take a good look at their recruitment process before complaining that they can't get the right applicants for their vacancies...

Applied for a job I had been temping in for a long time. A colleague did the application form for me. It's an HR game she said. You need career experience in psychology to understand it. Two days a week, minimum wage

In 33 years working for two different organisations every job from the original positions applied for, the 5 different posts held in business one and the 6 internal jobs applied for where I am now (most recently this March) have involved this type of application. I know no different @AmeliaEarhart thankfully I’ve always got an interview and with the exception of one, I’ve always got the job. That said I hate doing them because they take so long. Read Aloud on Microsoft helps though.