The job hunting support thread

[xes]

No, I shant either. If they have the audacity to phone me on monday, they'll be getting an earful, and told to never contact me again.

 

[strung out]

I may have put two and two together to make five, but are you now a proper librarian?

not quite. I've still to write the dissertation of my MSc, after which I'll have finished a proper CILIP accredited course. Because I've completed the taught section of the course though, I can apply for professional positions, despite not having finished the course just yet.

 

[Guineveretoo]

I have got to leave in about 40 minutes for an interview, and I am really struggling!

Yesterday, I decided I was going to pull out.

It's difficult to motivate myself, particularly when it is for the same people who turned me down less than a fortnight ago. In fact, it is for the same job, but in a different bit of the organisation, and the interview panel is going to be chaired by the same person.

There is still part of me that wants to pull out rather than put myself through that again, for nothing!

 

[gabi]

Best of luck...

It sounds trite, but yeh.. Just relax and be yourself...

Also, and here's a handy tip, make sure your fly is done up, particularly if you're going commando, a basic mistake I once made, which while amusing in hindsight, did me no favours. Nobody wants to see a big clutch of pubage first up in the morning, particularly not a prospective new employer. Missed out on that one.

 

[Guineveretoo]

I am wearing a dress, so I don't think that's going to be a problem for me.

 

[gabi]

Ok. Perhaps I should have done that.

More seriously, do you have printouts of your cv to take in. Props are good for interviews.

 

[Guineveretoo]

I have a print out of my application form, yes.

Last time, I was told that I was not focussed enough, but that was nerves. Right now, I just feel depressed. Nerves are almost better.

 

[existentialist]

Is this NLP legit? Does it actually work?....keep us posted?

It has some merit, but it's oversold and frequently misused.

You don't need NLP skills to fill in an application form, just the usual guidelines - use positive language, emphasise strengths, keep your writing punchy and to the point.

 

[existentialist]

"Your ability to present complex data analysis effectively to a range of audiences with differing levels of technical knowledge, both in writing and orally"

The problem is that I think you need to know a bit more about me in order to answer it.

This is the only bit which is not yet complete....

"I am a strong and articulate communicator, with excellent written and verbal skills. I am able to adapt my approach to a wide range of audiences, and quick enough on my feet to be able to interpret and convey complex topics effectively and authoritatively."

Knowing what I know of you, some of the above is probably even true

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I have got to leave in about 40 minutes for an interview, and I am really struggling!

hope all went well

"I am a strong and articulate communicator, with excellent written and verbal skills. I am able to adapt my approach to a wide range of audiences, and quick enough on my feet to be able interpret and convey complex topics effectively and authoritatively."

If this is for a covering letter / personal statement on an application (I may have misunderstood something here) then wouldn't you need to back that up with some examples, e.g. of the circumstances in which you've done this sort of thing? Rather than just repeating / confirming what it said in the advert / person spec?

 

[Guineveretoo]

"I am a strong and articulate communicator, with excellent written and verbal skills. I am able to adapt my approach to a wide range of audiences, and quick enough on my feet to be able to interpret and convey complex topics effectively and authoritatively."

Knowing what I know of you, some of the above is probably even true

Too late - that was last week!

And I couldn't say all of that, because it is almost exactly what I said in the section about my communication skills

 

[Guineveretoo]

Well, I have just failed, yet again, to get a job for which I am perfectly qualified.

So, more waste of my time, energy and emotion, and a bit more draining of my psyche.

I think I will be drinking too much this evening. Shame I don't have any friends within drinking distance, because, when I am depressed like this, drinking on my own is perhaps not so good.

 

[existentialist]

 

[Puddy_Tat]

 

[weltweit]

Well, I have just failed, yet again, to get a job for which I am perfectly qualified.

So, more waste of my time, energy and emotion, and a bit more draining of my psyche.

Earlier in the year I had an interview for a job which I could do almost in auto mode I knew it so well. The first interview with an HR person seemed to go well. At the end I asked my usual closing questions including: "is there any reason you can think of why I might not progress to the next stage?" thinking that as the interview had gone well I would be being invited to second interview. Well she said there is something, the team is very buzzy and I am not sure how you would fit in!

Buzzy! wtf is that .... if it is a nuanced way of saying "young"? discrimination on age is illegal. When I told my own recruitment agent she was cross, she said whatever the interviewer had thought she should not have said that, and that it was very unprofessional.

Anyhow, onwards and upwards, I continued working hard every day at my job hunting and a month or so later landed a job which better suits my temperament.

You will find a suitable job Guineveretoo, just carry on taking action every day, you will get there!

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I am trying to summon up a sensible answer to

describe a time when you have delivered excellent customer service

in an online application.

 

[weltweit]

I am trying to summon up a sensible answer to
describe a time when you have delivered excellent customer service
in an online application.

Is there really not a time when you did this?

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Is there really not a time when you did this?

I think I do the job/s I do / have had properly and that includes the 'customer service' bit of the job.

What constitutes 'excellent' in this context? (in the eyes of the HR person or their computer who's reading through this stuff?)

Is it just doing the job properly?

In some jobs, making an effort to go 'beyond the call' is wrong in the eyes of management...

 

[weltweit]

I think I do the job/s I do / have had properly and that includes the 'customer service' bit of the job.

What constitutes 'excellent' in this context? (in the eyes of the HR person or their computer who's reading through this stuff?)

Is it just doing the job properly?

In some jobs, making an effort to go 'beyond the call' is wrong in the eyes of management...

Yes I see your point in the last bit. But there must have been a time when you managed to delight a customer while doing what was expected of you from the company's point of view.

It isn't a totally easy question I warrant.

 

[Orang Utan]

Is it OK to leave salary details blank on application forms? Why do they want to know and why should I tell them?

 

[Sapphireblue]

Is it OK to leave salary details blank on application forms? Why do they want to know and why should I tell them?

it's to help them gauge the minimum they can offer you that you would be likely to accept.

so if the pay range for new job is £20-25k, and you are on £22,500 and they offer you the job, they will likely offer either exactly the same as you are on now or a bit more, e.g. £23k.

this is regardless of how well you fit the job and whether you deserve the top end or not. i had this happen when i recently moved jobs and i countered and insisted on an offer nearer the top of the range.

not sure if it's ok to leave blank though.

 

[Orang Utan]

The salary is already published.
My current salary is significantly lower than it, so I don't want to give them an excuse to lower their published figure.
And why should I have to provide salary details for all my past jobs? It's irrelevant now

 

[Orang Utan]

Dp

 

[Orang Utan]

Also, this job application is in a badly formatted Word document, so the application is going to look a right mess. I have to keep changing the font of my answers so they look different from the rest of the text. Each time I click on a new field

 

[Sapphireblue]

Got a call from a recruitment agency about a possibly suitable job they wanted to put me forward for. the job IS suitable. what the actual fuck?

said yes, been 'put forward', crossed fingers.

 

[chilango]

Also, this job application is in a badly formatted Word document, so the application is going to look a right mess. I have to keep changing the font of my answers so they look different from the rest of the text. Each time I click on a new field

I get really pissed off with badly formatted online forms. .

As for your salary? I'd put it in. Gaps always raise questionmarks. They may also make any number of assumptions based on a lack of salary info. None of them in your favour.

If they've already published the salary on offer they're hardly likely to lower it in any offer to you. In the event they did, you'd politely simply decline and end the interview at that point, no?

 

[Orang Utan]

It is a council form, so I can't just do my own.
You are supposed to account for all of your jobs since leaving education, yet it only gives you space for three jobs. It asks you to photocopy the form to add more if necessary, but how do you do that in a word doc? Everything I have tried so far looks shit. And I need to account for a career break but there's no format for that either so I have to adapt the employment history one with N/As in most fields. It jus makes the whole thing look shit.
And I have just lost the whol afternoon's work cos it got so fucked I had to leave the doc without saving. The ridiculously slow PCs at work made it even more tortuous

 

[chilango]

It is a council form, so I can't just do my own.
You are supposed to account for all of your jobs since leaving education, yet it only gives you space for three jobs. It asks you to photocopy the form to add more if necessary, but how do you do that in a word doc? Everything I have tried so far looks shit. And I need to account for a career break but there's no format for that either so I have to adapt the employment history one with N/As in most fields. It jus makes the whole thing look shit.
And I have just lost the whol afternoon's work cos it got so fucked I had to leave the doc without saving. The ridiculously slow PCs at work made it even more tortuous

Been there. Too many times.

 

[Orang Utan]

I am sick of having to write all these forms from scratch. Aaaargh!

 

[Puddy_Tat]

at crappy forms

and at forms that ask for every job since you left school.

If I include everything other than the odd days' casual work ones, then it still runs to about 20...

Can you add a continuation sheet / blank page for the additional ones? And the career break/s?

Or ring someone and ask if they seriously want jobs from more than X years ago?