[OPINION] I looked at hundreds of millennials' CVs and this is what I learned - Sensationalist Headlines

[b]This is very obviously an opinion piece[/b], hence the opinion disclaimer. But as it's from a news site, I figured that it could be shared in SH. If this thread is inappropriate, I will understand if a moderator closes or moves the thread. [QUOTE=ABC News]Over the last month and a bit, I've been recruiting. In February, RN advertised for six digital producers. Two of them were on my team, and I received more than 260 applications. "Digital producer" could mean a lot of things, but for us it meant journalists with multimedia skills — and virtually everyone who applied was between 18 and 30. In the private sector you can grab the top half of your résumé pile and throw it in the bin on the basis that you don't want to hire unlucky people, but at the ABC we're required to pay careful attention to every applicant. It took a long time, but it was worth it in the end, and gave me a real insight into the job market, the media and how young people present themselves. Here are some observations that might help other recruiters, and some tips that might help you if you're a Gen Y looking for a job.[/quote] Read the rest of the article, including the actual discussion points, at [url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-10/i-looked-at-100s-of-millenials-cvs-and-this-is-what-i-learned/8430048[/url]

I'm not sure this is true everywhere, but for most entry-level jobs, it's just a waste of time applying online. If you apply online 99 times out of 100 your experience won't be as good as the next guys. Instead, apply in person, hand them your resume, and say you're looking forward to hearing from them. People are a million times more likely to hire someone who's face they've seen. I basically stumbled into my first job because I decided to call in person instead of emailing, and beat out like a couple dozen other people despite having zero work experience.

I applied for >50 software engineering internship positions online I was only able to get a position with a company who interviewed me at my school's career fair

You make a much, much better impression if you show up in person with your papers, rather than just email them.

A luck based economy, very smart and certainly sustainable im sure.

[QUOTE=Gummylamb;52086765]A luck based economy, very smart and certainly sustainable im sure.[/QUOTE] An economy based on signals would be the best explanation as why some people get the jobs over other when the apply personally on-site or leave the CV inside a folder. Also, its true. Most people (Used to include me. Not anymore) who graduate uni fall for the classic (at least here in Argentina) idea of "SELL YOUR PERSONA LIKE IF YOU WERE THE NEXT FUCKING ELON MUSK!" and you end up seeing fresh graduates using adjectives such as "CRITICAL THINKING, TEAM PLAYER, GOAL ORIENTED" etc etc. Who gives a shit about your "critical thinking" skills? Your first position job will be listening to orders, processing them and doing the best you can.

[QUOTE=LoLWaT?;52086746]Depending on the job it's definitely worth following up in person after sending an application in, if you've got something to show or some questions to ask off hand, but here in America you'll pretty much be dismissed and told to send your information over some online channel if you introduce yourself like that beforehand. That's what I've heard and experienced anyways.[/QUOTE] Basically this, plus in UK most of the companies hire agencies to advertise positions online so you can't track down the company and ask them personally if they are interested in your application. Agency keeps the information confidentially, so you have to impress the agency and then the company itself. I am battling to find a position as a graduate mechanical engineer for quite a while now, and I agree most of the graduate/entry-level jobs require 1-2 years of experience which I don't have. Probably voluntary and internship is the best bet...

[QUOTE=LoLWaT?;52086746]Depending on the job it's definitely worth following up in person after sending an application in, if you've got something to show or some questions to ask off hand, but here in America you'll pretty much be dismissed and told to send your information over some online channel if you introduce yourself like that beforehand. That's what I've heard and experienced anyways.[/QUOTE] I don't think that's true. Most small to medium sized businesses do the online application thing, but it's mostly cause they're looking for work as soon as possible. If you go in person, I seriously doubt you'd get turned away. Hell, I worked at a big company, with a fully fleshed out online application thing, and my branch still preferred people to come in person.

[QUOTE=Slender|Man|;52086780]Basically this, plus in UK most of the companies hire agencies to advertise positions online so you can't track down the company and ask them personally if they are interested in your application. Agency keeps the information confidentially, so you have to impress the agency and then the company itself. I am battling to find a position as a graduate mechanical engineer for quite a while now, and I agree most of the graduate/entry-level jobs require 1-2 years of experience which I don't have. Probably voluntary and internship is the best bet...[/QUOTE] The article mentions that the job market has essentially turned into an arms race, where aspiring employees are having to resort to volunteer and other unpaid work so as to keep up, keep their CV competitive, against all of the other job hunters out there. This of course favours people who do actually have the time and means to perform unpaid work, who are typically the children of wealthier families. I think that I was very lucky to get into an accounting job without having to perform unpaid work, and with only the merits of my previous work experience in retail, study at university, and my own character.

[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;52086690]I'm not sure this is true everywhere, but for most entry-level jobs, it's just a waste of time applying online. If you apply online 99 times out of 100 your experience won't be as good as the next guys. Instead, apply in person, hand them your resume, and say you're looking forward to hearing from them. People are a million times more likely to hire someone who's face they've seen. I basically stumbled into my first job because I decided to call in person instead of emailing, and beat out like a couple dozen other people despite having zero work experience.[/QUOTE] Counterpoint: It's increasingly rare for companies to even have paper apps anymore.

[quote]In the private sector you can grab the top half of your résumé pile and throw it in the bin on the basis that you don't want to hire unlucky people, but at the ABC we're required to pay careful attention to every applicant.[/quote] [quote]When I'm looking at applications, I look at the cover letter first. I want the candidate to introduce themselves and explain why they'd be good for the job. [U]But 90 per cent of the cover letters I saw were just CVs in prose form.[/U] Boring for me. Pointless for the applicants; their CVs were also attached. A bit disturbing; I thought my applicants were professional communicators. When you're job hunting, you need to write an original cover letter for every job you apply for — changing the subject line ain't going to cut it. A cover letter is your opportunity to stand out, so here's a simple guide to writing a good one. Introduce yourself. Outline your understanding of the role and the organisation. Make a pitch for your vision of the role and why you would be great at it — this should reference your experience, but it shouldn't be a laundry list.[/quote] It shouldn't be hard to see why cover letters are so generic and vague these days, the sheer amount of time it would take to bang a specific one out for every position a person needs to apply to, would be a job of its own.

[QUOTE=Funktastic Dog;52086690]I'm not sure this is true everywhere, but for most entry-level jobs, it's just a waste of time applying online. If you apply online 99 times out of 100 your experience won't be as good as the next guys. Instead, apply in person, hand them your resume, and say you're looking forward to hearing from them. People are a million times more likely to hire someone who's face they've seen. I basically stumbled into my first job because I decided to call in person instead of emailing, and beat out like a couple dozen other people despite having zero work experience.[/QUOTE] This is probably be true but depending on where you live, you might not have much of a choice. I went in person to nearly every store I could find within a 20 minute drive and only one of them had paper applications. The rest just told me to apply online.

[QUOTE=glitchvid;52086952]It shouldn't be hard to see why cover letters are so generic and vague these days, the sheer amount of time it would take to bang a specific one out for every position a person needs to apply to, would be a job of its own.[/QUOTE] But they don't? They only need to be half a page to a full page long, and only really take half an hour to do. And I've actually had several job interviews entirely on the basis that the employer was impressed that I actually addressed all of their concerns within my cover letter; introduced myself, spoke of relevant attributes, skills and personality, stated why I would be fit for the job, answered other points raised in the job ad etc.

[QUOTE=BF;52086973]But they don't? They only need to be half a page to a full page long, and only really take half an hour to do. And I've actually had several job interviews entirely on the basis that the employer was impressed that I actually addressed all of their concerns within my cover letter; introduced myself, spoke of relevant attributes, skills and personality, stated why I would be fit for the job, answered other points raised in the job ad etc.[/QUOTE] Maybe for you, and I'm glad it's helped you getting interviews. But for me it takes about an hour to pump out each unique cover letter, and as a 100% entry level person it took me a lot of job applications to get an interview, eventually only getting hired because I knew someone. I can understand for experienced career individuals who only apply to maybe 4-6 jobs it's worth the time, but for the average Joe just trying to get a job in their field, it can be a time-sink that likely nobody is going to even read.

[QUOTE=BF;52086973]But they don't? They only need to be half a page to a full page long, and only really take half an hour to do. And I've actually had several job interviews entirely on the basis that the employer was impressed that I actually addressed all of their concerns within my cover letter; introduced myself, spoke of relevant attributes, skills and personality, stated why I would be fit for the job, answered other points raised in the job ad etc.[/QUOTE] If you're only throwing out a handful of apps that day it isn't too big a deal, but it adds up real damn quick. If you're desperate for a job you're throwing 8-12 apps a day into the wind. At that point you're literally pulling 6-10 hours a day [i]just writing cover letters[/i]. And that shit gets old real fast. It's no surprise employers are finding copy-pasted cover letters, indeed not finding them at all. People are having to bomb so many apps out each day, most of which are gonna go unread no matter what you do, that they just don't have the time to do it. The time spent writing a cover letter for job A would fill out applications for jobs K, L and M.