IT job seekers can't smell spell
Schoolboy CV errors
Posted in Management, 2nd March 2011 13:16 GMT
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Job applicants seeking technology jobs often make basic spelling and grammar mistakes while writing their CVs.
Some even misspell the name of the technologies and products they're meant to be experts in, which might be why 23 per cent of people admit they get someone else to write their CV.
Recruiters said there were five common mistakes made on CVs:
- Spelling and grammar mistakes
- No clear demonstration of technical skills
- Too long
- Rambling
- Listing of irrelevant skills
The numbers, from CWJobs – which questioned 850 jobseekers and 150 IT recruiters – found a big disconnect between the two groups.
So while 82 per cent of IT pros reckon they're good at interviews, some 66 per cent of recruiters said they'd seen candidates with poor communication skills during the interview process.
Candidates rambling was seen by 47 per cent of recruiters, while 27 per cent of them said candidates arrived in inappropriately casual dress.
Dawn Campion, Managing Director of Ellen Webb Plc says, “IT jobseekers must appreciate that they aren’t necessarily going to be interviewed by people who fully understand both technology and the technical language they use. IT roles are increasingly client-facing now and if IT professionals want to represent themselves well in a job interview situation, they must be able to show that they are able to communicate with non-technical as well as technical people competently.” ®
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COMMENTS
Meh!
Before selecting candidates for interview, I immediately throw away half of the CVs.
This weeds out unlucky people.
You're off my interview list then
If you cannot be arsed to put the effort in and turn up at an interview in decent clothes, appropriate for an interview (and I mean interview, NOT general working), then you probably cannot be arsed to turn up and put the effort in at your job. Notice I said probably, but it's an immediate warning sign to me.
Your dress does NOT indicate how good a coder you are. I know very good coders who dress smart, and very good coders who dress down at work - but they all turned up at interview dressed appropriately.
Bad grammar and spelling in CV's don't usually make it past the HR filter.
@fatchap
Sorry, but no, "CV" isn't a contraction. "CV" is a type of abbreviation called an 'initialism' or an 'acronym'; e.g. *C*urriculum *V*itae or *Ra*dio *D*etection *A*nd *R*anging. Since it's definitely not a contraction, "CV's" suggests ownership.
(I've proofed this one this time!)
re: Ja
I did apply - the extra 5K was pure fabrication by the agency. Boss went absolutely apeshit at them.
asdfghjkl
@Ja: "Full of shit too. I once had an agency phone me up out of the blue and offer me pretty much the exact job I was doing with a 5K rise. Turned out the job was actually at my company to join my team. I'd written the damn spec!"
... if it were me, I'd have applied ... just to see the look on my boss' face.
The new Office Garage series:
