Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you are a person who hires people for jobs and have hired someone in the last year, what did you think of the applicants who applied? How was their resumes, cover letters, interview skills, follow up?
Maybe you have some advice for the job seekers so they will learn from the successes and failures of other applicants. Here is your chance.
For the blue collar jobs I can certainly overlook poor spelling and grammar (although it would be nice if they could at least spell the name of the town they live in correctly). My biggest pet peeve is that they come in reeking of cigarette smoke, are rude, or having showered and shaved for two weeks.
For the white collar jobs, about 25-35% of the time I've found poor grammar and incorrect spelling on resumes, resumes that made no logical sense or were in fonts that hurt my eyes to read, cover letters that went on like soap operas, and people who are completely unqualified wasting everyone's time by applying for jobs that they only corelation between their resume and the job description is the ability to breathe.
I see slobs and losers getting hired and keeping their jobs.
Sorry, but that is the competition I have been up against. All around me I feel like if you are a low achieving mutant companies would rather hire you than someone articulate or intelligent.
All this nonsense of dressing nicely, speaking clearly, not having grey hair, and so on is such crap...
Oh yes, all of the below is so, so true!
Makes an interviewer wonder if the applicant knows what soap, toothpaste/mouthwash, razor or deordorant is! Makes an interviewer wonder if the applicant knows how to wash clothes or use an iron! Makes an interviewer wonder if the applicant knows what "Spell Check" is! Makes the interviewer wonder where in the "H" the applicant learned how to write/print (application)! I have never done any actual interviewing, but have looked at some applications/resumes that a supervisor gave to me to look at and I have been to some Job Fairs and was absolutely SHOCKED at how some of the folks looked there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by annerk
For the blue collar jobs I can certainly overlook poor spelling and grammar (although it would be nice if they could at least spell the name of the town they live in correctly). My biggest pet peeve is that they come in reeking of cigarette smoke, are rude, or having showered and shaved for two weeks.
For the white collar jobs, about 25-35% of the time I've found poor grammar and incorrect spelling on resumes, resumes that made no logical sense or were in fonts that hurt my eyes to read, cover letters that went on like soap operas, and people who are completely unqualified wasting everyone's time by applying for jobs that they only corelation between their resume and the job description is the ability to breathe.
Please... there are plenty of posters who complain about employers not hiring them even though they are smart and highly qualified.
I hope this thread can be for employers and hiring managers to tell us about the applicants. Many they have some advice that will help the many people on this board who can not understand why they are not being selected.
This week alone we had about 20 applications. The ones that will never get a call:
Were rude
Reeked of booze
Hadn't showered in a week or more (We understand a guy who gets off work in his blue collar job and comes in to fill out an application might be a bit dirty from work, but stinking of BO, filthy greasy hair that hasn't been cut in months, that doesnt' cut it.)
Filled out their name, address, phone, and half-assed info on previous employers.
No green card
No high school diploma or GED
No school at all listed
No prior job experience listed (and was easily 30 years old--what's he been doing for 12 years?)
Hours available didn't match our shifts
For the white collar resumes we got, none matched the one job were a re actively advertising. The closest we got was a 50% match, and they wanted NYC money (they were an out of town applicant).
Oh, okay WT...
Let me admit it (note heavy sarcasm)--Why so many of us are not being 'selected.'
I am a drunk.
I go to interviews in my wrinkled clothes from the night before.
I never bathe or deodorize before an interview.
I say ain't and gonna a lot.
I don't have any job skills.
I play with my cell phone during interviews.
I don't shake hands or look the all mighty interviewer in the eye.
I have outdated computer skills and still think typewriters and white out are all we need to get by.
I don't know what email is or the internet.
My hair is grey and l look 63 instead of looking 35...
I speak only Spanish and expect everyone else to as well.
I am rude to everyone from the receptionist to the HR person.
I don't have any degrees and have been baking brownies and living under a rock for 11 years.
I caint rite a sentance correctlely. My resumay must be fulla typpos.
Again the above is SARCASM. Assuming again that all out of work people are flawed SOMEHOW over the people getting hired...
So...what will we clean and normal folks learn from this stupid thread?
I have a question that might relate... or maybe it needs a separate thread? As far as prior job experience... what should a mother put down? I've been a stay at home mom for 14 years. Prior to that I was a teenager or twenty-something who worked for over 10 years at Whole Foods Market. How does that look to potential future employers? Does "I've been a full-time mom for the past 10+ years..." turn hiring managers way off? Do countless volunteer hours at the kids schools and the constant multi-tasking and hard work and planning that mothers have to do - and not taking sick or personal days, ever - count for anything?
Luckily, I don't need to find a job right now... but with the economy the way it is it's something to think about.
Haggard..I think you would do well with a "task" focus resume - one that does not list years but capabilities: Think Sales and Customer Service....10 years....and highlight the basics - cashiering, merchandising, re-stock, inventory etc. Then Leadership and Instruction (whatever number of years you put in volunteering)...the age group of kids you handled, activities, fundraising etc. Caretaker....X number of years and any other type of work - especially if you daily websurf - make sure you put in software that you use and computer experience. Add education at the bottom of the resume (but only if you think it will get you in the door).
I hire for customer service. For both my jobs. So What I look for is someone who is easy to talk with, who I do not need to pull out the words from their mouth. Who looks presentable and is nice. If their resume looks like they actually took time to do it and use spell checker, (There is no need for poor spelling in today's day) and if their references turned out well I will hire them. In an interview, I usually make them do most of the talking because the more a person talks the more you learn about them. If you just shoot questions at them you do not learn about who they are, they are simply answering questions, anyone can do that.
I own a store, and I usually get teens that apply, and it gets so tiring working with teens because they are usually lazy. The first little while they show promise and then they slack after a month or so and then I have to get on their ass.
I had a woman of 33 hand in a resume and I pretty much hired her on the spot (after checking references) she had experience and was over the age of 20. I just want people who actually want to work, who are friendly and who can tell time.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
