To find the job application and interview process tedious?

[SoloWanderer]

I’ve been going through the job application and interview process recently and I find it incredibly tedious. From crafting tailored resumes to preparing for interviews and waiting for responses, it all feels like a lot of repetitive work.

Usually, I get jobs pretty quickly - 1-2 interviews max - but it seems like the market has been really tough this past year. I understand that it’s a necessary part of finding a job, but I can’t help but feel exhausted by the whole process.

AIBU to feel this way, or is this a common sentiment among others going through job searches?

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.

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

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.

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!

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

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!!

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.

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

@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.

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!

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.

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 have a friend who avoids roles wit

I have a friend who avoids roles with application forms and only applies to ones where she can send a CV and cover letter. How that’s fared for her career is… debatable!

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 remember starting one of those applications a good few years ago and just thinking ‘F this.’ Ever since, I don’t even give CS roles a look. It’s just not worth the hassle for me!

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.

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!!

It's an enormous hassle at the other end for HR too, and it seems to take forever to recruit people. A lot of it seems to be just to generate material for arse-covering so that they have evidence to show why person "a" wasn't recruited, instead of leaving themselves open to an accusation of discrimination.

And then often a lot of people recruited still can't do the job anyway.

Use chat gpt then tweak where needed.

Civil Service ones are the worst. I see so many people say that CS jobs are perfect for people leaving teaching but with teaching full time I don’t have the hours in the day to fanny around with their application bullshit. It all seems to be ‘guess what’s in my pocket’ anyway with them wanting you to list a load of stuff without actually giving you any clues what they actually want.

I did a whole application the other day and got to the end and it said if you’ve ever been sacked/asked to leave a job tick here, well as I’m pathologically honest I ticked yes, because I was sacked from my first job 30 years ago because the boss was a dick and didn’t like me. I got an instant rejection, no opportunity to explain the circumstances, if I’d had a criminal record I could’ve left it off after 30 years, but some power hungry dick can still affect me after all this time?!

I do think there's something in giving candidates interview questions in advance. Interviews should be a 'show how I'm the right person for this role' exercise, not 'guess what they might ask'.

For the last interview I had, they sent across links to their website saying that it would be useful prep. I dutifully studied their vision, structure, strategy, diversity policy, and god knows what else. The interview itself didn't have a single question about the company, just four on one specific area which wasn't named on the job description.

trawling through applications can be just as depressing.

On the application side, I spent three months last year looking for a role, as PP said, more or less a full time occupation, I'm leaving for exactly the same reasons my predecessor did. Next role, I wasn't really looking, half hour on the application letter, single interview, start in a couple of weeks time.
THREE DAYS A WEEK 😛

Those automatic rejections are the worst, make you feel so worthless to be rejected by AI after putting in so much effort. I once applied for a job that was the same thing I was already doing (teaching on a coding course) and got an automatic rejection for ticking no on whether I have a teaching qualification.