How To Get The Job You Really
Really Want - Applying For Jobs - Application Forms
Before I finish this section, a quick word on
application forms. I know, everyone hates them, but they do turn up
an awful lot when you're applying for jobs, and, if you want the
job, sorry, you'll have to fill one in. I know they only ask for
the same information that you have spent hours putting together on
your CV, however, they are a necessary evil. Indeed, since the
advent of the Internet, they have become even more so. You can spend
many happy hours filling out screen after screen of application
forms online!
If you want my opinion, I reckon they were invented
by a secret society of personnel managers to ensure they always had
something to do and therefore a for job themselves, but there you
go, that's just my opinion. Anyway, off the soap box (again).
How do you deal with them?
Well, there are a few simple rules to ensure you get
noticed from them. Most are straight forward and self-explanatory.
It is important, however, to fill them in completely. DO
NOT fill in certain parts and then put REFER TO CV for the bulk of
the answers. If you do this, yep good old file 13 beckons. Yeah, I
know it's doubling your effort, but administration in most companies
is a nightmare, seriously, and if your CV becomes detached, or lost
in the wrong in-box, you've had it. Believe me the personnel
department will not ring you and ask for another one. They will
assume you never sent or attached it! A bit paranoid maybe, but
the rule is, make it as easy as possible for your application to be
picked for interview, leave NOTHING to chance. It is
always possible that the system within the company may need the
application form and CV to be separated!
Many companies retain applicants even after they have
been rejected for a given role. In these instances it is
normally the application form and NOT the CV that is retained.
Why do they do that? Well the best reason I have been given is that
CV's get out of date. I'm not sure how the application forms don't
do the same, but hey, that's HR for you! I used to reckon it's
simply that their filing cabinets weren't big enough, but with the
capacity of electronic storage methods these days, that argument
just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny!
So, the rule is never refer to your CV on the
application form.
Another rule is, if you have a paper based
application form, always write using block capitals. Some people's
writing is very difficult to decipher (I include myself in this
category) and you want to give yourself the best chance of being
called for interview. If the reader cannot read your writing you
will not be called.
The only other rule, fill in the entire form, oh…And
finally - do not lie! I will cover the "do not lie" question in
greater detail in the next section on CV creation.
Next Section -
The Perfect CV
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