How long does it take you to do an application?

[MilestoneMum]

Seems to take me 2 hours to input employment history, qualifications, courses etc...especially on some online forms, and then at least another 2 hours to write and refine personal statement questions. And then I go through it again to check it...what am I doing wrong?

I think that's how long it takes, espeically to write the personal statement. I think once you've done a few, you've got some words you can crib for the next ones, so it gets quicker, but I must have spent hours on some of them.

Surely it should take hours?
Every application needs to be individually tailored IMO

45 mins

but I have the gift of the gab

I think 2 hours is pretty good going.

3-4 hours. I struggle to complete more than one online application per day.

Hours sometimes in a few sittings over a couple of days. I don't spend all day long doing one but I need to think about what my strengths are for the particular job and consult dh for his opinion on how it sounds.

That would probably be about right if you are doing it thoroughly and tailoring it to the specific job and so on.

Most jobs I apply for require CVs but with a lengthy enough cover letter. I spent a bit of time crafting a few paragraphs about myself that would really sell me and now I can use it for my applications/cover letters without having to start from scratch each time. Then I adapt it to emphasise different skills. I can also use it on LinkedIn and as a basis for the "So tell me about yourself..." moments at interviews and networking.

It saves me considerable time and I know that it has been refined to capture exactly what I want it to.

Also, I've been working on writing a similar thing for key topics/skills I am likely to talk about in depth.

1-3 hours.

Peppermint, I'm impressed by that.

Ha, I impressed myself! The thing is, my job is being redundant at the end of the year so I'm in the odd situation of having basically a year's notice and a lot of time on my hands in work

Hours!

Taking me days as it's my first one in 15 years. I keep stumbling over what should be easy parts to complete. Like what do you put if a previous employer has been taken over/changed name? For example you worked for Cadbury's but it's been taken over by Kraft. Do you put a) Cadbury's
b) Kraft
c) Cadbury's (now trading as Kraft)
???