Still applying yourself?

Now this is a subject that I have written about before, almost this time last year in fact.  After sifting through a number of applications for a receptionist position at my school I had to tell the world how to Apply Yourself!  The position is vacant again (nothing I said, I promise) so I need to let off a bit of steam once more.

In this past year, in times of economic hardship and greater unemployment; a highly sought after term time job still seems not encourage people to complete their bloody application forms properly. 

This time there were 54 applications for the job and it took me a full day to long list and then a few hours of whittling it down to four interviewees.  To my surprise, the level of applications was still poor.... the applicants obviously hadn't read my last post!!

So here we go again, some tips and hints:

TIP 1:
Complete the form in its entirety.  Fill out the blanks such as; the references section, the bit where it asks for your NI number.  Yep, everything.  Someone this time managed to forget their name.

TIP 2:
Write your personal statement with reference to the person specification.  It even says this at the top of the form.  I cannot bang on about this any more without popping a vein in my forehead.  If you don't meet criteria, talk about relevant experience or what you are going to do to make sure you meet the criteria.  Two lines will not win me over.  Crossings out (yes people still cross out apparently) are not acceptable.  And the biggy, telling me why the job is good for you does not make good reading!  An example of not good (and this was the two liner):

I think I would be good at the job and, as I need a position that fits around my children, I believe I will be an asset.

TIP 3:
Type it.  You will live and die by your PC at work, so if you wish to demonstrate your "Excellent ICT skills, with experience of Microsoft Office packages"  then type it.  If you don't have a computer, borrow or go to the library.  How much do you want this?  If you do, make the effort.

TIP 4:
Maths and English are important these days.  The minimum requirement is Maths and English GCSE A-C or equivalent.  You can do the adult literacy and numeracy courses these days for nothing so there isn't an excuse.  Presenting me with a failed maths and an E for English isn't good.  We had people with degrees applying which may demonstrate that you will need to get competitive if you want a job.

TIP 5:
Check spelling.  I saw 4 forms using "i" instead of "I".  The word receptionist was spelt incorrectly throughout another, whilst several failed to spell the name of the school correctly!  Oh and my name has an E on the end..... please check as that is a little bit irritating.

I would love to give some constructive feedback to all candidates about their forms but obviously that isn't possible..... so to anyone applying for a job, I urge you to take some time if you really want it.  If you don't want it then don't apply as some poor sod has to read them all.