The Cassandra Complex

In the past two or three years I’ve had call to be on various different interview panels. I’m on another one now, and I decided to put together a list of “dos and do nots” for writing job applications. Retrospectively my own job applications were poor – though not as poor as some I’ve seen – so maybe this will serve as a reminder to myself in the future.

All of these items are things I’ve seen done – even the more ridiculous ones.

• Correct spelling, punctuation and grammar are not optional. Even little things like “organization” with a z will irritate anal retentive Australians like myself after they’ve read 10 applications before yours.

• If you really feel it necessary to relate a story of where you’ve stuffed up badly (eg gone bankrupt) or found a problem in a place of work, for the love of god please explain what you learned from it, what you did to resolve it, and what successes you had in doing so. An example where you found a problem and did nothing to resolve it makes you look slack, not observant.

• It’s understandable that you’ve written lots of job applications lately, and I approve of recycling where possible, but make sure that it’s not blindingly obvious that you’ve done so. Printing an application for another position with no changes whatsoever, stapling pages for a second application to the back of the first one, using the same sentence in three different places (can we say “cut and paste”?) or leaving half a page of text that has nothing to do with what you’re meant to be addressing because you like it are examples of things not to do.

• Give examples. A one sentence statement saying you can do something isn’t generally very convincing.

• On the other hand, once you’ve been in the workforce for a while, it’s best to retire the examples that relate to school projects. Find better ones from when you were working.

• It’s generally best not to mention the time you spent on the witness stand in court – with the possible exception of jobs in the police force.

I am sure there are lots more but I can't think of them right now. Anyone else got any advice?