Job Applicants
Discussion
Being involved in retail I get a bucket load of CV's from young people moving into the big wide world of work.
There's no way we can interview everyone that approaches us, so obviously the covering letter is always going to be an important way of filtering out the weak ones. The trouble then becomes we don't actually interview many at all as the standard of basic English is so appalling. We're talking text speak in some cases.
OK written English isn't a major factor in retail but I can't help thinking that if they can't be bothered to get someone to check the CV and letter before it goes out are they really going to be conscientious in their work.
The question to the oracle then is, as an employer do I bother sending out a standard reply helping these kids by telling them why they don't stand a chance of interview so they can do better in the future elsewhere or just continue to ignore them?
No doubt I've made an error or two in this post but I'm not applying for a Job today;)
There's no way we can interview everyone that approaches us, so obviously the covering letter is always going to be an important way of filtering out the weak ones. The trouble then becomes we don't actually interview many at all as the standard of basic English is so appalling. We're talking text speak in some cases.
OK written English isn't a major factor in retail but I can't help thinking that if they can't be bothered to get someone to check the CV and letter before it goes out are they really going to be conscientious in their work.
The question to the oracle then is, as an employer do I bother sending out a standard reply helping these kids by telling them why they don't stand a chance of interview so they can do better in the future elsewhere or just continue to ignore them?
No doubt I've made an error or two in this post but I'm not applying for a Job today;)
Jasandjules said:
In your shoes I would suggest that yes a letter back stating that the standard of the covering letter was below what you would expect BUT be cautious in case people are dyslexic (why is that such a complicated word to spell?) and complain about discrimination.
But people with dyslexia know how to spell it?Galileo said:
That's a big, nasty can of worms that I personally wouldn't go anywhere near. A covering letter is going to be insulting at best, letigious at worst, and a personal letter to each and every one will take for ever.
This is my original thought but I sort of feel sorry for the kids, sending out numerous applications with no hope of a response. It must be sole destroying for them and I can only assume they have no one else in their lives to guide them. But then the other half of me thinks that if they can't be arsed to write me a decent letter why the hell should I bother reading the CV and responding.How about a generic response something along the lines of..
"We're sorry that your application didn't meet the standard we look for today but we wish you every success in the future. You may be interested to know that the top 5 issues that we frequently notice in CVs are..."
And then list some typical problems. If it's obviously a generic 'help sheet' then it may be seen in a better light?
"We're sorry that your application didn't meet the standard we look for today but we wish you every success in the future. You may be interested to know that the top 5 issues that we frequently notice in CVs are..."
And then list some typical problems. If it's obviously a generic 'help sheet' then it may be seen in a better light?
Pot Bellied Fool said:
How about a generic response something along the lines of..
"We're sorry that your application didn't meet the standard we look for today but we wish you every success in the future. You may be interested to know that the top 5 issues that we frequently notice in CVs are..."
And then list some typical problems. If it's obviously a generic 'help sheet' then it may be seen in a better light?
That's not a bad idea."We're sorry that your application didn't meet the standard we look for today but we wish you every success in the future. You may be interested to know that the top 5 issues that we frequently notice in CVs are..."
And then list some typical problems. If it's obviously a generic 'help sheet' then it may be seen in a better light?
I think it's such a shame that this guy is trying to help people out by telling them what they are doing wrong - so they can work on it in future - but potentially risks people complaining about discrimination if he's too specific in being helpful! It's a mad situation, but I do understand.
As the guy above says, I think a generic rejection but with a list of "common issues" is a potentially good way to do it, as it avoids making specific criticisms whilst still helping people out a bit. Not quite as helpful as if you could tell them exactly why they were rejected, but better than nothing at all which is very frustrating.
Harry H said:
This is my original thought but I sort of feel sorry for the kids, sending out numerous applications with no hope of a response. It must be _sole_ destroying for them and I can only assume they have no one else in their lives to guide them. But then the other half of me thinks that if they can't be arsed to write me a decent letter why the hell should I bother reading the CV and responding.
I think you meant to spell that soul 
condor said:
Harry H said:
This is my original thought but I sort of feel sorry for the kids, sending out numerous applications with no hope of a response. It must be _sole_ destroying for them and I can only assume they have no one else in their lives to guide them. But then the other half of me thinks that if they can't be arsed to write me a decent letter why the hell should I bother reading the CV and responding.
I think you meant to spell that soul Harry H said:
Being involved in retail I get a bucket load of CV's from young people moving into the big wide world of work.
There's no way we can interview everyone that approaches us, so obviously the covering letter is always going to be an important way of filtering out the weak ones. The trouble then becomes we don't actually interview many at all as the standard of basic English is so appalling. We're talking text speak in some cases.
OK written English isn't a major factor in retail but I can't help thinking that if they can't be bothered to get someone to check the CV and letter before it goes out are they really going to be conscientious in their work.
The question to the oracle then is, as an employer do I bother sending out a standard reply helping these kids by telling them why they don't stand a chance of interview so they can do better in the future elsewhere or just continue to ignore them?
No doubt I've made an error or two in this post but I'm not applying for a Job today;)
I think that would be a good thing to do, but it may give you a backlash.There's no way we can interview everyone that approaches us, so obviously the covering letter is always going to be an important way of filtering out the weak ones. The trouble then becomes we don't actually interview many at all as the standard of basic English is so appalling. We're talking text speak in some cases.
OK written English isn't a major factor in retail but I can't help thinking that if they can't be bothered to get someone to check the CV and letter before it goes out are they really going to be conscientious in their work.
The question to the oracle then is, as an employer do I bother sending out a standard reply helping these kids by telling them why they don't stand a chance of interview so they can do better in the future elsewhere or just continue to ignore them?
No doubt I've made an error or two in this post but I'm not applying for a Job today;)
Harry H said:
The question to the oracle then is, as an employer do I bother sending out a standard reply helping these kids by telling them why they don't stand a chance of interview so they can do better in the future elsewhere or just continue to ignore them?
Yes, it'd be a decent thing to do to spend a couple of minutes giving feedback as to why they weren't successfulJasandjules said:
In your shoes I would suggest that yes a letter back stating that the standard of the covering letter was below what you would expect BUT be cautious in case people are dyslexic (why is that such a complicated word to spell?) and complain about discrimination.
Is that really an excuse though. We all now know just because people are Dyslexic doesn't mean they're thick. So if you knew you had a problem it doesn't take much to work out it may be a good idea to get someone to proof read an application before you sent it out. Pot Bellied Fool said:
How about a generic response something along the lines of..
"We're sorry that your application didn't meet the standard we look for today but we wish you every success in the future. You may be interested to know that the top 5 issues that we frequently notice in CVs are..."
And then list some typical problems. If it's obviously a generic 'help sheet' then it may be seen in a better light?
This seems like a safe plan. It's a bloody shame though that they can't cover this area in school. Annoyingly some of the applicants have obviously come from the local job centre/ job club type schemes. And whilst the English is OK they haven't bothered telling the applicant that a generic letter stating "how well they can work on their own as well as part of a team" with zero mention of the job they are applying for just won't cut it."We're sorry that your application didn't meet the standard we look for today but we wish you every success in the future. You may be interested to know that the top 5 issues that we frequently notice in CVs are..."
And then list some typical problems. If it's obviously a generic 'help sheet' then it may be seen in a better light?
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