Recruitment 101

Lesson 3:


Never take it for granted that cover letters are professional documents. It may contain other information, such as a summary of the childhood memories of the job applicant had of his/her deceased father, 3 siblings and family teachings. 


*~*~*

Let it now be said. In a cover letter:

We DO NOT need to know:

1) Who raised you
2) The age your father passed away
3) The number of siblings you have and/or have to take care of
4) How your family's teaching has influenced you to be who you are.
5) How your ex-employer has mistreat you
6) How your wife thinks you should get a new job
7) How the arrival newborn child is motivating you to get a better paying job


We. Are. Not. Matchmakers. Or. Family. Counsellors


What we DO like to see:

1) Written descriptive of your educational qualification
2) 2-3 paragraphs of your professional experiences
3) How your experience can value-add to the listed vacancies
4) Your contact details



Resumes and Cover letters are professional representation of one's self. 

Leave personal history, your ah-gong/ah-ma/ah-pa/mummy/hubby/wife's teachings to gossip or chit-chat-sessions with your friends.


Yes, it's been a long Monday.



Signing off,
Adeline
From the Desk of a Recruiter

Recruitment 101

Lesson 2:


Never take it for granted that application emails contains resumes. It may contain something else... a 439-page documentation developed for a school assignment, for example


Or, it may contain something more interesting. Like, blood-test results.


*~*~*

Often, I wonder what is going through the mind of job-seekers when they select documents to be attached in an application email.

I'm comforted by the fact that 98% of the emails I received from job-seekers do contain the relevant attachments, such as cover letter, passport-size photos, resumes/CVs, transcripts, etc...

The remaining 2% however, contains the weirdest attachments I've seen. More recently, I came across one who attached a 439 page documentation for a programming language. This attachment was accompanied by another 120 page documentation for goodness-knows-what, resulting in the application email to be a whopping 17MB, of which 69KB was relevant - his resume.

At least Mr 439-Page-Documentation submitted his resume. Just the other day, I received an application email with only one document - blood test result.

Well, Mr Blood-Test-Results, I am happy you were tested negative for Hepatitis A, B or C. But I still have no idea how your blood test is able to justify you were suitable for an IT Engineer role.






Signing off,
Adeline
From the Desk of a Recruiter

Recruitment 101

Lesson 1:


Never take it for granted that CVs contains contact number or email address.


*~*~*

Despite the existence of common sense in most people, in my line of work reviewing CVs everyday, I do come across resumes with beautifully written and impressive career history, career aspirations and credentials.

Except contact details.

Hence, dear students, please remember. Recruiters are not Jean Grey or Professor X with telepathic abilities. We can't contact you with our minds. >_^

Signing off,
Adeline
From the Desk of a Recruiter

Having not written anything for almost 2 months, due to work, school, personal rollercoasters, writer's block and a wee bit of laziness, I hit a sudden brainwave while in the midst of work to do this "Recruitment 101" series.

What is this about? Well, you gotta read it to get it. ;)

So here you go. Watch out for Lesson #1, coming up soon. =)