Job applications

[Mummymn]

So I've been applying for a new job, slight career change and ideally remotely.
It's early days and I've applied for several but not an excessive amount yet..its been a long time since I've had to do this so everything has changed in terms of technology etc.

some jobs ive applied for directly on company websites and some through job websites. I've not heard a thing from anyone. not a sausage not even a no. Is this totally normal nowadays? In the past I seem to remember you got confirmation you'd applied for the job fairly quickly then I was invited for interview really quickly. Perhaps because it was a different time or because I'm now looking at remote jobs and the pool of applicants is much larger I don't know. Or of course I'm worried I'm rubbish and can't even get entry level jobs anymore.

I know I sound naive but it's denting my confidence already because I worry I'm doing something wrong.

My DS is applying for work and just hears nothing ... yet the same companies (NMW jobs) are still advertising and saying they can't find employees.

I'm sorry to say it, but this suggests there's something about your DS's application that's poor, if they haven't enough candidates yes still aren't opting to take his application forward.

TheLight possibly that's true but without wishing to sound boastful could he be being ignored because he is over qualified for a role?

This is important - get someone who compiles CVs for a living to check your CV. You’d amazed how many people think it’s ok to apply for a job with a non-targeted CV.

@TheLightProgramme should A levels not go in cvs anymore? If (ahem) over 40? I’ve always included mine as thought it was a faux pas not to 🙈

Where do you find such a person?

I recruit vía LinkedIn for PM roles in my industry. Having industry experience is essential as we are rather niche. Well, I get 100s of applicants who have clearly not even read the job description. Not a real example but let's say, I ask for "fluent in German" and the applicant says "I'm a C++ developer". Absolutely no relation at all, but that's 5 minutes I've wasted reading an irrelevant CV.

Generally I send a rejection email via LinkedIn to the ones who were ok, but not great. I do not send a rejection email to the ones who are clearly time wasters

Where do you find such a person?

Have you tried Google? There are plenty of those people. Also many recruitment agencies will help you if you ask

Yes, I’m going to trust the opinion of some random internet person.

MoiraRosesBaybay, well, professional "random" people will have web sites with their services, references, etc. Just like when you are looking for any other professional. It is like looking for a lawyer or a plumber! You find them in Google, then you do your research and decide if they are good enough for you. If you cannot do that kind of basic research, then how are you going to find a job?

for example, this is one of many; https://www.sarahlovell.co.uk/ . I don't know her. Just found her in Google. I do that kind of job for friends, as after reading 100s of CVs a week, I know quite well what's good or not. I am glad I can be honest with my friends and rewrite a lot of stuff. Most people really don't know how to represent themselves positively on paper.

Maybe an HR person can confirm... while the no response thing could simply be laziness or over-application for jobs... I heard some actively choose not to reply for fear of someone picking out 'something' in the "tough sh!t" email and labelling it as discrimination.

...I.e. the less you put onto a reply, the less you can be accused of later.

I can't imagime what discrimination could someone pick up from

"we have reviewed your cv and unfortunately you have not been successful this time. Due to number of applicants we cannot provide personalised feedback at this stage. Please visit ourweb.something to see any future opportunities"

It's an excuse if anyone said that tbh

Did you mean to be so rude?

What a horrible comment to make. Rather than being so sarcastic you could have simply pointed out that this is a service people offer.

I don't think my answer was rude. It was educational. I even provided her with an example for one of those people. On the other hand, calling people who advertise their services on Google "random" is rather rude in my opinion, or possibly lacking any concept of how advertising works nowadays.

It depends on the field. I've been in IT, and no one cares about my A-levels, nor my pre-IT jobs. They're not that interested in anything prior to my last job (which I was in for several years.)

However, partner is in teaching, and they want everything forever (on application forms, usually, not CV.) One of them even questioned the one month gap between summer job and returning to uni over 30 years ago... (He was on holiday.)

Knew it wouldn't be long until the HR/Recruiters were here telling us "well it's your CV that's the issue and there's absolutely loads of jobs here"

Interesting on the CV front - I've had to claim UC and had more than one job coach whilst doing so. One Job Coach went through my CV and helped me create different ones for different roles, using the same jobs but listing the experiences differently and drawing out different skills. The next one told me this was pointless and to have 1 CV because covering letters where were it was important to tailor it to the job.

@ButWhatAboutTheBees it's amazing isn't it.
My DS has had to sign on as he can't find a job. His job coach said his CV is fine.
On a thread a week or so ago people were claiming its easy to get a job. "Just walk around town and hand your CV in everywhere, shops, warehouse jobs etc" How can you tailor a CV if you're doing that? Not too mention that no-where here takes CVs, you have to apply online in which case you can change the CV a little to match the job.

And then half the online applications don't even WANT your CV anyway, they want you to type all the same information out into little boxes on their application form.

And you have to know the "STAR" method of answering questions. You can't just type in "Yes I have 5 years experience in this role. I have managed people, worked across a diverse age range and have experience working in a team" but have to be like "Well once I was on a team and someone on that team didn't like someone else so I sat them both down and talked to them and then they worked together and the team was succesful" which doesn't say you have tons of experience the same way the first does but apparently proves it much better.

And then half the online applications don't even WANT your CV anyway, they want you to type all the same information out into little boxes on their application form.

No. They want you to upload your CV then retype it into application😂

@ButWhatAboutTheBees @InYourHeadZombieeeaeaeaea so true! Mind you that helps towards the 35 hours per week job searching you're meant to do!

The worst experience I had was a few weeks back. I applied directly to a company via their website. A week or so later, one of their HR team emailed me back, thanking me for my application etc, and asked me for my availability the following week for a 'chat'/first-round interview with her. I emailed her back the same day and stated my availability as she requested.

I heard nothing back for a few days, "Fine, she's busy," etc. But my availability changed during that time (a work meeting was scheduled), so I decided to use that as my reason for a follow-up email to her (think along the lines, "I'm sending this email as an update, as I am no longer available on Wednesday morning. I am still available for the rest of the times stated ...").

Six weeks later - nothing.

I've shrugged it off now, but was very miffed at the time. I've had many many people just ignore my application (as does seem to be the norm), but not after inviting me for a chat/interview.