Jobseekers – stop telling me you are good, tell me why you are good for me

I am losing the will to live with applications at present, almost every application that gets past the initial spam filter are very, very poor. Can jobseekers please read this and adapt accordingly? We understand you want to tell us how great you are, what you have done and why you are right for the role – but your email feels generic. It has been potentially written to 50 different companies because it is all about YOU and not about why you are good for the role in my organisation. Please start thinking about the person who is reading it. Here is their perspective:

1. Because it is so easy to apply to multiple jobs we end up having to wade through increased numbers of irrelevant applications, which is time consuming.
2. Lots of people are applying for a job NOT the specific job we are advertising. So we tend to have no real interest in the application.
3. Many people who apply cannot or do not tell us why we should meet them, they just talk about themselves.

If you want to understand how the mind of the hiring manager works, then follow these guidelines.

• I don’t want to hear about all of the extraneous things you are good at. Tell me why you are a good fit for the job you are applying for.
• Generic emails contain too much unashamed boasting. I don’t want to hear about how great you are. I want you to highlight your understanding of the job and what unique attributes and skills you will bring to it.
• Remember that the line manager reading your email is extremely busy. Therefore you need to keep your application concise and to the point with a call to action at the end.
• I want you to have your phone turned-on or at least make sure that it has a professional voice message for when I do call you. Also please ensure that you call-back promptly.

To give you an example – I hire a lot of recruitment consultants and the good news is they can come from many different industry backgrounds because we hire based more on character and attitude. Here is what I would like to see:

“Dear Peter

I am conscious that you may receive many applications in the current climate, I want to
highlight why I believe I would be a good fit for the recruitment consultant role that you have advertised. Firstly, my understanding is that this role requires the person to be very resilient, hard working with an ability to work to objectives. Furthermore I understand that they also need to be able to become an expert in a specific industry to be more credible to both candidates and clients alike. Here are three reasons why I think I fit the bill for this role:

•   I am a graduate with 12 months work experience but every Summer I have worked in the hotel and catering industry which is incredibly long hours, often with large levels of responsibility over cashflow, customer service and the commercials. I would be delighted to give you a reference of the manager who will give you a strong reference around my work ethic and service levels.
•  I am someone who loves to work to targets, and enjoys hitting them and exceeding them I have done this in my sporting and personal life as well in the last 12 months working in a retail store where I have regularly been top of the sales leaderboard.
• Finally – I have researched your organisation Cpl, I see it is growing and I would like a company that while I can work hard I will be rewarded by good training, support and the ability to make money along the way.

I look forward to hearing from you – I will have my mobile phone on the whole time to ensure I am available to take your call.

Yours Sincerely

Joe Bloggs”

 Anyone who does this – will get an interview!