The job hunting support thread

[AnnO'Neemus]

I haven't heard back from the job that I applied for recently (that resulted in me missing Cloo's trip oop north and hanging out with urbanites). It was advertised as urgent, and I thought that being available immediately and having lots of relevant skills and experience would at least get me an interview. I've just checked, the job ad's been taken down. I wonder if I had too much experience and was perceived to be 'overqualified' because they had described it as more of an entry level role, although it's a sector I worked in years ago, with some more relevant recent experience, so would've happily taken a step down.

Oh well.

I applied for another job on Friday, for which I have some relevant skills and experience.

Out of the different types of tasks listed in the job description, I've got recent experience with 12 out of 18, and out of the remaining six, for three I've done maybe half of that kind of task because the other half was a colleague's remit, iyswim, and a couple of them I have transferrable skills for.

Out of the seven criteria listed in the person specification, I tick all seven, well, I suppose six and a half, because I don't have that much experience relating to one of them.

The application deadline was Friday just gone, and interviews are scheduled to be held next week. I think it was only advertised on LinkedIn (although of course there might be internal candidates), but LinkedIn said that around 100 people applied. Of course, that's just people who clicked through, not everyone actually submits an application.

And now I'm compulsively checking my emails to see if I get invited to interview.

 

[Sue]

The application deadline was Friday just gone, and interviews are scheduled to be held next week. I think it was only advertised on LinkedIn (although of course there might be internal candidates), but LinkedIn said that around 100 people applied. Of course, that's just people who clicked through, not everyone actually submits an application.

Good luck with it all!

Something else to keep in mind is that loads of people apply without the relevant skills/in the wrong geographical location. We recently advertised a job and had something like 300 applications from the company website/LinkedIn.

At least half were from people who needed sponsorship (mainly from India) which we can't do.

Of those left, probably two-thirds didn't have any relevant experience at all, despite it being a senior role and us asking for x years of experience of specific stuff.

There are maybe 20 people we'd actually get back to and I reckon maybe five to eight who'd actually be worth talking to.

So tl:dr loads of people apply for random stuff that they're never going to get for various reasons.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

And now I'm compulsively checking my emails to see if I get invited to interview.

just a thought - is your e-mail provider the sort who moves some things in to a 'spam' folder, and if so do you check it regularly? BT changed the way it worked some years back (I'd previously set it no to do that and used an e-mail preview program) and missed an interview invite as a result. in this case it was something fairly unexciting and part time while i wasn't in regular work, but...

So tl:dr loads of people apply for random stuff that they're never going to get for various reasons.

yes - and people who are on JSA who are being poked with sticks by the job centres to waste everyone's time by spending X amount of time a week applying for jobs, or to apply for Y number of jobs each week.

 

[newme]

Got an interview for the council job I applied for. I am too fat for my suit. Can I get away with ordinary office trousers, shirt and tie?

Interview will be early October. I don’t ever wear suits so would rather not buy one for an interview and this was a speculative application for a local job, not looking to move jobs otherwise

Been for about 7 of council jobs and got 5. Chinos, shirt and smart trainers for the last 2 successful ones. Suit was unsuccessful for one and successful for
one. Don't think the suit helped much.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Good luck with it all!

Something else to keep in mind is that loads of people apply without the relevant skills/in the wrong geographical location. We recently advertised a job and had something like 300 applications from the company website/LinkedIn...

So tl:dr loads of people apply for random stuff that they're never going to get for various reasons.

Thank you.

Hmmm... Actually, the 'urgent' job was in London, but hybrid, can't remember if it was two or three days in the office, so maybe on reflection I should've said in my covering letter that I was 'willing and able to relocate'? Maybe they saw my most recent jobs mostly in Manchester and thought I'd try to swing mostly or entirely wfh?

Yeah, I'm in a couple of neurodivergent groups on Facebook and people often post that they've applied for hundreds of jobs with no joy and I get the impression that that many job applicants adopt a scattergun approach, just apply for hundreds of jobs by clicking and submitting their CV via LinkedIn or Indeed or those kinds of job ads.

I figure if someone's applying for 10-20 jobs a day or whatever, a recruiter can tell that they haven't really bothered to properly read the job description and person specification, let alone checked out the company website and done some basic research, and they haven't tailored their CV/application so the recruiter can tell that they're not really interested, they're just applying for the sake of applying.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

just a thought - is your e-mail provider the sort who moves some things in to a 'spam' folder, and if so do you check it regularly? BT changed the way it worked some years back (I'd previously set it no to do that and used an e-mail preview program) and missed an interview invite as a result. in this case it was something fairly unexciting and part time while i wasn't in regular work, but...



yes - and people who are on JSA who are being poked with sticks by the job centres to waste everyone's time by spending X amount of time a week applying for jobs, or to apply for Y number of jobs each week.

Yeah, I've been compulsively checking junk mail folder too!

At least they've stated when interviews will take place, ie next week. So I'll know either way soon. Some jobs, if there's no timescale given, two or three weeks after the closing date I'm wondering if I might be invited to interview, because some bigger companies take longer.

One of the reasons I'm keen to hear is because if I have an interview lined up next week, I'll need to make a hairdressers appointment to get my roots done, otherwise I can probably wait another 2-4 weeks for a balayage colour treatment.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Puddy_Tat Ah, yes, you're quite right. Lots of people will be applying for jobs they don't have relevant skills or experience for just to fill job application quotas to satisfy the DWP so they don't get their benefits cut.

Wastes everyone's time. Someone might be better off spending ages researching a company and sector, writing a covering letter and tailoring their CV, or spending a couple of days doing a painfully and fiddly formatted application form and answering lots of questions, writing a statement in support and doing online psychometric tests to jump through hoops to try and land a job they're qualified/have experience and skills for, rather than submitting lots of applications for jobs they don't even want and don't have a hope of getting.

It's so disheartening that people are made to do something so soul and confidence destroying and ultimately counterproductive.

And it wastes the company's time too.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Hmmm... Actually, the 'urgent' job was in London, but hybrid, can't remember if it was two or three days in the office, so maybe on reflection I should've said in my covering letter that I was 'willing and able to relocate'? Maybe they saw my most recent jobs mostly in Manchester and thought I'd try to swing mostly or entirely wfh?

possible.

from their perspective, especially if it's urgent, they may be reluctant to take on someone who will need to relocate and (from their perspective) run the risk of the move falling through either if person gets a more local offer, or if they can't find accommodation quick enough.

when i worked in Reading, it happened a few times that someone got offered a job, accepted it, then after going in to house / rent prices in more detail, decided against it. Wouldn't be surprised if that happens a fair bit with people taking jobs in that london (although it's easier than it used to be to research house / rent prices from a distance now everything's online.)

One of the reasons I'm keen to hear is because if I have an interview lined up next week, I'll need to make a hairdressers appointment to get my roots done, otherwise I can probably wait another 2-4 weeks for a balayage colour treatment.

i must admit that's an aspect of the job hunting process that's never occurred to me

 

[frogwoman]

Applying for a job and it asks "To what do you attribute past successes"

I have absolutely no idea how to answer this

 

[ElizabethofYork]

Applying for a job and it asks "To what do you attribute past successes"

I have absolutely no idea how to answer this

Being very determined
Being super organised
Being a great project manager
Being a team player

blah blah