Employment / CV / Interview tips

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#444195 28-Feb-2011 18:26

im not after a job , but it was a nice read and would help when the need for work arises

knoydart

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#444199 28-Feb-2011 18:34

Can you offer a guide to how employers should act as well? Seeing as I've been on the end of receiving a comedy of errors from a company in recent weeks in my current hunt for a new job.

There goes my chance of ever getting an interview ever again in New Zealand...

xpd

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#444204 28-Feb-2011 18:53

knoydart: Can you offer a guide to how employers should act as well? Seeing as I've been on the end of receiving a comedy of errors from a company in recent weeks in my current hunt for a new job.

There goes my chance of ever getting an interview ever again in New Zealand...

LOL, sorry, any guide I write from that side of the fence will be pure fiction

Every employer has their own view on how positions should be filled etc..... personally I hate the ones that say "you seem to be perfect for the position" and never get back to you.... then hear later that they hired some monkey who said he knew what he was doing and turned out to be the worst employee ever....

What sort of "comedy" have you been encountering ? Is it via an agency ?

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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#444205 28-Feb-2011 18:55

redjet: Always send a cover letter with your CV. A lot of the time I learn more about the person from the cover letter than their CV. I recently advertised on TradeMe for a part-time position and less than 10% of responses had cover letters.

Defintely, those with a brief cover letter will always get a better looking over. SHows you have put a little bit of time into your application.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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xpd

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#444207 28-Feb-2011 19:03

One thing I didnt say in my blog, was that in your cover letter, dont be scared to tug on the employers heart strings a little ;)

In my cover letter (which i will make available soon) I mentioned about the newcomer to the family etc, and my boss the other day mentioned it was one reason why I was hired, it showed I had values and a reason to want the job.

Might not work all the time tho.... but whatever you do, be honest. Lie, and eventually the boss will find out....

"I need the job to support my kids"
3 months after getting hired...
Boss says..."We're having a family day at work, bring the kids"
"What kids ?"

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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ieatservers

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#444220 28-Feb-2011 19:39

The employer can be picky because there are so many options to choose from, since a lot of people apply, so the candidate need to know how to sell their selfs well and have a bit of luck too.

nate

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#444247 28-Feb-2011 20:45

ieatservers: The employer can be picky because there are so many options to choose from, since a lot of people apply, so the candidate need to know how to sell their selfs well and have a bit of luck too.

If you (as an employer) have a mass pile of CVs to sort through, you look for ways to disqualify people. If there is no cover letter, CV is poorly formatted or has speling erors, or you can see the shotgun approach (send as many un-targeted cover letters and CVs to as many job ads as possible), you will go in the "no hire" pile.

I really should blog about my recent experience in hiring. Some of the stuff candidates were getting wrong was basic, common-sense (maybe uncommon sense is a better term).

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miamiheatfan

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#444251 28-Feb-2011 20:53

nate:
ieatservers: The employer can be picky because there are so many options to choose from, since a lot of people apply, so the candidate need to know how to sell their selfs well and have a bit of luck too.

If you (as an employer) have a mass pile of CVs to sort through, you look for ways to disqualify people. If there is no cover letter, CV is poorly formatted or has speling erors, or you can see the shotgun approach (send as many un-targeted cover letters and CVs to as many job ads as possible), you will go in the "no hire" pile.

I really should blog about my recent experience in hiring. Some of the stuff candidates were getting wrong was basic, common-sense (maybe uncommon sense is a better term).

Please do. I'm a 3rd year student and any advice or guide will be highly appreciated.

ieatservers

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#444254 28-Feb-2011 21:02

The key is to get the basics right.

knoydart

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#444321 1-Mar-2011 08:45

xpd: What sort of "comedy" have you been encountering ? Is it via an agency ?

It was a small firm north of the Bombays. I was rung up to check that did I realise that the job was in Auckland (I'm Based in Wellington), and what would I do about it if I got the position?!

In the same phone call, I was asked if I understood if the job was part time? I'd already spoken to the MD the previous week to informally discuss what the job entailed. The person in charge of recruitment seemed rather surprised that I had already spoken to the boss as they had not been told to say the least.

Just to round it off, 2 days later I'm told that I'm over qualified. This is despite me not having any direct experience in the field and was an entry level position

ieatservers

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#444650 2-Mar-2011 01:39

I have met some good recruiters and some bad ones. Most of them are all about money, they do not care about your career or what you want. I read somewhere in Uni websites that 90 percent of the grads are employed within 6 months after graduation, is this true?

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#444672 2-Mar-2011 08:42

They could be employed, but employed in the industry/sector that they were hoping for after spending xx years at Uni etc ? Honestly dont know, but I highly doubt they end up there as their first job after Uni....

It could be like you see in the movies... some new graduate gets in a cab, starts talking to the cabbie and finds out the cabbie actually has more degrees and experience than the graduate does... ;)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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ieatservers

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#444703 2-Mar-2011 10:49

xpd: They could be employed, but employed in the industry/sector that they were hoping for after spending xx years at Uni etc ? Honestly dont know, but I highly doubt they end up there as their first job after Uni....

It could be like you see in the movies... some new graduate gets in a cab, starts talking to the cabbie and finds out the cabbie actually has more degrees and experience than the graduate does... ;)

lol

graemeh

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#444740 2-Mar-2011 12:14

ieatservers:
xpd: They could be employed, but employed in the industry/sector that they were hoping for after spending xx years at Uni etc ? Honestly dont know, but I highly doubt they end up there as their first job after Uni....

It could be like you see in the movies... some new graduate gets in a cab, starts talking to the cabbie and finds out the cabbie actually has more degrees and experience than the graduate does... ;)

lol

The Admin person at a local real estate agents office has a PhD. So sad what this country has come to.

LookingUp

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#444746 2-Mar-2011 12:31

graemeh: The Admin person at a local real estate agents office has a PhD. So sad what this country has come to.

... that said though, what's the PhD in? I did my degree in Electrical Engineering, not because I particularly wanted to be an Engineer, but because I wanted to be employed. I could just as easily (in fact probably more easily) have done mathematics, chemistry or physics, but the career opportunities in those areas were less defined and tangible.

If you do a PhD in Ethiopian Pottery or something similarly abstract you need to accept that there might be limited opportunities for you to ply your trade. I now work in Science, and many of the people I work with recognise that they have very few career prospect outside their current position, due to the highly specialised nature of their area of expertise. It is a very real issue for them.

Things are LookingUp.... A photo from my back yard :-)

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