Unreasonable application processes

[Motorina]

This is just a mini grumble. I'm job hunting. The current job has 12 essential characteristics, plus half a dozen desirable, of which I hit two. I need to evidence all 14 in a two page statement. Fine.

Except the application form is clear they want you to put a heading for each characteristic, then write about it specifically. To make it easier for the shortlisters. Most are two or three lines long. So that's a third of my space gone just on their headings.

14 mini paragraph-ettes, each giving evidence and examples, and how I would apply it to this role.

I appreciate they don't want to read essays, but aaargh. I could do this so much better and slicker in a standard covering letter.

(It's fine. I'll do it. Their system. I've just been drafting since 6am and I'm grumpy!)

Can you shorten the title of each characteristic to one to few words? I.e. if it says needs to have strong communications skills to express themselves clearly with colleagues and clients , you just wright “communication skills”?

I combined some titles where they sat neatly together.
So the specification said "Qualifications - Must have a Degree in Golf" and "Experience - must have lived in Artic Tundra conditions". I combined them to "Qualifications and Experience - I have a degree in Golf Studies from YANBU Uni, and spent 3 years maintaining the golf course at the Antarctic research station"

@lillipilli possible. I’m at work at the job I’m trying to escape from but will look later when home.

I’m just grumpy about the whole thing. Which I guess isn’t the recruiter’s fault.

It is a pain, but I can see why they are doing it. Slick letters are easy to write, but can make it really difficult for the recruiter to work out whether you do actually meet the essential/desirable criteria. This way makes it easy to check, and also to compare people fairly. I've had to shortlist from 50+ applicants many times, and it's a fair to quickly reduce the pool of candidates.

They are either not very good at recruiting, and have not thought it through, or they have thought it through and want to see how people cope with following instructions. If they made it easy, they'd have a mountain of similar sounding applications to wade through. By making it hard, some can go straight in the bin whereas others will stand out. If the job involves any form of writing, they are testing whether you can present detailed/complex information concisely.

Surely some of them are one-liners? If they want a qualification, then it's enough to say that you have it - you don't need to ramble on about what you gained from it. Whereas if they want to see experience of dealing with difficult clients, a whole paragraph is needed to demonstrate that.

I totally get it, having shortlisted myself. I think my beef is the sheer number of essential criteria. Had there been 6 it would have been fine - a chunky paragraph for each with recent examples as evidence, then how I would apply it. Trying to do that with 14 in a page and a half and not have it be superficial or unevidenced is really tricky.

It's such a lazy recruitment process!

No - none are one liners. And they’ve mostly fairly messy. There’s one that covers communication skills and ability to inspire trust and ability to deliver high impact projects. That’s a lot to evidence in a few lines!

This is ridiculous, what job is it for? I work in HR with a background as a recruiter and this is such a candidate-unfriendly process. I'd be thinking about whether I really wanted a job with a company that doesn't even know how to recruit.

Tbh that's how I used to apply for jobs without instruction to do so, always remember my manager thanking me for it months later- always put yourselves in the shoes of the sifter. It does sound like a lot of headings though, the number of criteria sounds unreasonable.

Maybe it's an initiative test - use very small font and narrow margins 😁

Although having reflected on that this was when I was still in postgraduate mode, I'd probably struggle more now to respond like that with 10+ years work experience.

It’s a non-executive director for a large public sector company. So lots of meaty skills to evidence.

Yeah, I always breathe a sigh of relief when all they want is CV and cover letter. Then it’s maybe two hours work to tailor what I have to the role. This will take me a day.

Ahhh well…

@MrsOwainGlyndŵr its a plan 😂

Can you not take the titles out of the word count??

Put the title in bold and underlined then start the example the same line.

@Milkand2sugarsplease it’s not a word count - it’s a two page limit.

@FawnFrenchieMum genius!!! That should win me several extra lines. Thank you.

Could you do a key, send the list back to them alongside the application (but separate) with the headings numbered and then start each statement with a number instead of the title...? I'm reaching here but could work!

I really wouldn’t worry if you go over 2 pages, they probably just put that on all the apps, most won’t have 14 headings

Is done! Two pages dead! Whoop! Hallelujah!

(I hate job hunting.)

Lol. That's a niche field you've got yourself into there 😂😂😂😂

Good luck OP, you'll have to let us know how you got on.

Thank you!

Well done OP, good luck!

Is it the Civil Service? Jesus wept, I spent ages on an app, meet all of their criteria, did their specified format for the answers. Got a basic standard rejection email.