Dear Job Applicants…
September 24th, 2009 by Vanessa
Having written in my last post about the joys of bookselling, we are currently looking for a part-time member of staff. We’re advertising in the usual places but just in case any potential applicants happen to stop by here en route to emailing Andrew their CV and covering letter I thought I’d flag a few things up that they may wish to consider. Just because that’s the kind of warm, friendly person I am.
Also because the last couple of times we’ve advertised for staff, whether for Andrew’s job or for a Saturday person, we’ve been utterly gobsmacked by some of the applications and I’d really like people to stop shooting themselves in the foot when it’s so easily avoided. Last time we advertised for a Saturday part-timer we had 76 applications and didn’t have time to read them all carefully – you’ve got maybe 2 minutes to make me want to keep reading so make that first impression count.
So here are our tips:
- Get our name right. There’s an apostrophe in The Children’s Bookshop and frankly we reject people simply because they miss it out. If they can wilfully abuse the rules of punctuation like that in a job application (when you’re supposed to be trying your absolute best to show yourself in a good light) then they’re not going to like working with pedants like us.
- Read the advert. If we say we want someone with retail experience who can demonstrate a good knowledge of literature then you need to do that. Tell me what I need to know in order that I can decide whether or not to interview you.
- Covering email/letter. Your CV is probably the same for all the jobs you apply for so your covering email or letter is where you get to sell yourself as the ideal candidate for the specific job you’re applying for. A variation on “here’s my CV and I look forward to hearing from you” isn’t going to get you far unless your CV is pretty s***-hot. If I even bother to open it and read it once I’ve seen your lousy email.
- And use that covering email to tell me what you can do for us. Not the other way round. We aren’t offering you work experience; if that’s what you want then you can work for free. We’re looking for an employee with specific skills and experience who will work hard and sometimes be bored by doing tedious repetitive things – but we’re paying you so that’s ok.
- You’re not doing us a favour. Bear that in mind. Don’t be condescending in your email or when you meet us. None of us respond well to that.
- Spell-check. Get a friend to proof read your CV for errors of punctuation or grammar. And then spell-check it again. Someone handed in a CV yesterday with two (two!!!!!) spelling mistakes in the covering letter.
- If the advert specifies particular days that we need the successful applicant to work then those are the days we expect you to work. It’s not really that negotiable. Sure once you’re here there’s a little flexibility to move things occasionally but generally those are the days you’ll work. Don’t do what someone did the other week and tell us that you don’t want to work weekends. This is retail; our busy periods are at the weekends so that’s when we want extra staff. Tuesday afternoons aren’t noted for their need for additional staff.
- Look at the privacy settings on your Facebook page and what public impression of yourself you’re giving out. If you’re bragging about how much you like to go out clubbing and binge drinking at the weekend, then I will assume that you’re not likely to be the most reliable member of staff I could find. And if I have to turn out on a Sunday morning because you’ve got the hangover from hell I will fire you.
- Don’t have a comedy email address. You know the type. We will mock, we will sneer and we’ll assume you’re a pillock. Which isn’t so good from your point of view.
- References. I don’t want a reference from your sixth form college tutor. I want a reference from someone who has employed you, or you’ve done voluntary work for or something similar. Knowing that you got really good A level results and were the star of the school debating team is nice but it doesn’t tell me anything about whether you’re reliable, hard-working or honest. Even if that person is the manager of a bar in Sydney where you worked on your gap year – if they’ve got email they’re still a better referee than the head of your sixth form.
- Excessive mateyness. I don’t want to be your friend so please don’t be excessively chummy - be professional.
And finally, never, never, never, never send me an application that contains smiley faces*.
* because someone did and that alone meant that we rejected their application.
Hope this helps, because people; some of you need this help.
Oh deer. ; )
…and what Vanessa didn’t mention is the difference between U.S. and U.K. spelling. Though it may seem pernickety, it is important. If a customer asks for a title that you then have to search on a British books-in-print database then your mis-spelled title is not going to return the results you need to see to provide good customer service. Something as simple as the difference between ‘-ize’ and (the correct) ‘-ise’ is all it would take to lose a sale. Demonstrating that you understand the difference will earn your application big points – as will using the abbreviation ‘CV’ instead of the frankly odious ‘resume’.
When I worked as a bookseller a few years ago we had a prospective employee send in her CV… except the body of her CV was in a speech bubble coming out of Audrey Hepburn’s mouth.
It was stuck on the wall of the manager’s office as a warning of the perils of going Too Far.
And I am 100% with you on the comedy email addresses.
Surely a decent database would return results with alternative spellings, as Google does? I say this because the -ise/-ize distinction is not a straightforward US/UK one (though it is often incorrectly perceived as such). The OED, for example, prefers -ize, and it’s perfectly plausible that a UK book could contain an -ize word in its title, or indeed could be a US book which has had its original spelling retained in the title for the UK edition (as in The Time Traveler’s Wife).
Heheh. Presumably Julie Andrews would have been OK.
I went to a humble State school in the war. I realise now how good were the basics despite air raid sirens, bombs, down to the shelter etc. May I respectfully suggest you consider the older age group. Not quite as old as me but someone who has been through it all. More reliable.No kids to rush home for.Not interested in dating, boozing. Someone from 50 years upwards. Youll get reliability,dedicated work, basic education and grammar and the use of the apostrophe!Today’s c/v applicants would drive me mad and yes! a knowledge of American and Engish English.Please don’t think I’m rude in suggesting the older person. Look at B & Q employing them for preference all the time!
All the best as always
Hazel of Yate
And please, please, please turn up to the interview with clean fingernails!
I’m still working on Miles studying that law conversion course back in Edinburgh (I haven’t actually checked if said course exists, but still). Perhaps I’ll submit a form on his behalf.
Love xx
Kirsty, I just burst out laughing when I read your comment! You know, I might be tempted to interview that person just to see what they were like…
gess thats’ me rooled out then :-) ;-)
I wonder if Vanessa would ditch Hazel’s application on the grounds that ‘c/v’ is incorrect! Seriously though, I don’t believe I ever witnessed ageism in the recrutiment process during my 11 years of bookselling – the empahasis was always on retail skills and book knowledge.
I’ve twice received applications from candidates that I’ve immediately consigned to the bin on the basis that:
1. They got the name of the company wrong
2. They got my name wrong
3. They got the address of the company wrong
Given we’re in the business of marketing other businesses, those errors don’t bode well.
In one case, the candidate was a friend of a colleague. The colleague asked about her friend’s application and I said that given the company name was wrong on the covering letter (not just spelt wrong, but wrong) it had gone in the bin.
That was “arsey” apparently.
Don’t you love it when these folk that strut their high standards fall flat on their faces?
In this from your post:
(not just spelt wrong, but wrong),
you mean “wrongly” the first time. You see, the other uses of “wrong” are correct, as they are adjectives qualifying a noun. But here, you are trying to modify a verb (spelt), so you need an adverb. Hence “wrongly”, rather than “wrong”.
The offending phrase should be:
(not just spelt wrongly, but wrong)
Young Nimrod
Young Nimrod – thanks for that. I’ll remember not to write a comment on a Saturday morning with a hangover ;-) I’ll take it on the chin, but I think my error is a lesser crime than getting the name of the company at which you are applying for a job wrong. No excuse for spelling that wrongly. More of a ’stumble on a squint paving slab’ than a falling flat on my face? Was I wrong, or was the candidate wrongly dealt with? Who can say.
Before I take issue with “these folk” I’ll head off somewhere else.