Tips for jobhunters

Currently, the organisation that I am attached with has a few vacancies. We have advertised in the newspapers yesterday, and I have received nearly 50 applications thus far which are sent through the e-mail.

The number of applicants goes to show how things are currently. People are almost desperate for jobs, that they are willing to apply anything under the sun, as long as they have something to hold on to. I welcome applicants who are willing to strive and learn new things.

Unfortunately, it saddens me to see that quite a number of these applicants have some basic problems when it comes to applying for jobs.

Some of them did not even bother to write a covering letter. To me, while e-mail can be used for applications, it is important that they also include a covering letter which states at least the job that they are applying for. At the very least, the covering letter is a form of courtesy to the potential employer, and it shows the level of professionalism that the applicant has. A few of these applicants even sent empty e-mails with no text whatsoever, save for the attachment containing their curriculum vitae. I think this is sheer laziness. An applicant should never assume that the employer knows what they are applying for, and an applicant should never think that he/she is the only one applying.

The second aspect that I noticed many applicants took for granted is the use of language in writing letters and e-mails. Great care must be taken when communicating, especially with potential employers. This at the very least gives a fairly good first impression. An abrupt and rude letter and/or e-mail will most probably scare the potential employer away from even shortlisting the applicant. What more if the job requires communication with other people. How can an employer trust the applicant with communicating with other people if the first impression shown in his/her letter/e-mail is bad? E-mail may be an informal way of communicating, but still one must still observe certain ethics in writing e-mails.

The third aspect I find lacking is a good command of language. Some of the applicants do not seem to take the effort to check the grammatical and spelling errors in their resumes or letters. Imagine writing "executive research" when one should write "research executive", or writing "2nd class honest" instead of "2nd class honours". This kind of careless errors show that the applicant is not careful and/or lazy in rechecking his/her documents. If the person is applying for a job as a research executive, which among others requires the person to be extra careful and meticulous, then the errors in the documents will probably show them to be otherwise.

So, if you're looking for a job, make sure that:
(i) Your curriculum vitae is accompanied by a covering letter.
(ii) Write using proper language even when you are communicating using e-mail.
(iii) Check and recheck your documents before sending them to potential employers.