Snag A Job Newsletter April 2008

April 2008

As is common in the health industry, many of the candidates applied through a recruitment agency.

On the whole, agency applications are less well received than non-agency ones. This is because candidates who apply through a agency tend to be applying for many jobs at one time and usually use the same CV or resume and cover letter for all positions they apply for. Few appear to tailor their resume and cover letter so that they match the specific requirements of each vacancy.

This is something you need to be aware of if you are applying for multiple jobs through agencies. Although using an agency to find work can be productive, do make time to ensure that each application is unique.

If you are applying for agency advertised positions online, upload a tailored resume or CV for each job and make sure your cover letter is written specifically for that role. You need to do the same if you are applying for positions on paper, even though it takes a little more effort.

As interviewers, there's little less inspiring that a general resume or CV that looks like it's been written for a type of job, not a specific job. It suggests to us that the candidate is applying for many jobs and does not have a particular interest in ours. We also think that the applicant hasn't made time to address the requirements of our vacancy, which gives a bad impression. We find ourselves asking if they really want the job.

You are much more likely to win an interview and snag a job if you demonstrate to your interviewers that it's their job you want. You do this by tailoring your CV/resume and cover letter to the specifics of their particular vacancy.

In April Sam interviewed 16 candidates for 2 Customer Sales Advisor positions. He offered jobs to 2 of the applicants. The other 14 had poor interviews, for several reasons:

• Sam asked each candidate why they wanted the job and had many different answers. One candidate gave vague reasons and Sam pressed him for more details. Under pressure the candidate admitted that he just wanted to "get out of" his current role.

  Did you read that and cringe? Would you never say that?

  Most people think they would be more candid with their answer but in our experience the truth tends to come out when people are under pressure and not prepared.

  The solution is to prepare good and honest interview answers that stand up to tough questions. There is nothing wrong with wanting to move jobs or change your career, but prepare good answers which explain why.

• Sam also asked a fair number of behavioural interview questions. He found that answers to these type of question were weaker than answers to non-behavioural ones.

  Behavioural interview questions are common these days and you must expect and prepare for them. Interviewers generally give more weight to these answers than others because they show how you did behave in real circumstances, rather than how you might have behaved in theoretical ones.

Sam said that only about a third of the candidates gave full answers to interview questions. Unfortunately, this is a common failing. Our decision to give you the job or not will be based largely on what answers you give to interview questions, so you must give full ones.

And it really is better to say too much than too little, trust us. How else will we be able to assess your suitability for the role if you don't explain your suitability to us?

If you're worried about saying too much, be aware of signals from the interviewers that you should stop. Do they look distracted? Have they stopped writing notes?

You can even check. Ask them "does that answer your question fully?" or "would you like me to tell you more?"

Our best advice is to prepare and practice answers to interview questions, giving good and full examples. Do this and you will give better interview answers.

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