A Wee Tip for Jobseekers

kylith

Put your name in the file name when you are sending your CV. It sounds obvious, doesn't it? Unfortunately the majority of people don't seem to do it.

I'm currently on a Fás scheme in a company (not even Jobbridge money, but I'm enjoying it), and part of my job is to sort CVs and Cover Letters for advertised positions (none of which I'm remotely qualified for), and the number of people who send a file just titled 'CV' or 'My CV', or who fail to include a cover letter, or who title their cover letter 'My Cover Letter', is staggering; I might wind up with 20 'My CV's in a file. I can take the time to put names to the files, but in a larger company that would be getting hundreds of applications they may well just bin anything without a name because it's time consuming to sort out whose it is.

So, for the love of the gods, put your name in the title of everything you send!

irishgrover

+1 on this. I'm going through a load of CVs at the minute and not having a name on the file is a pain in the ass. Name of applicant in filename increased probability that I'll refer back to it.

kylith

I should probably also add: use a format which you know can be opened on any computer. Strange as it may sound not every company has upgraded their MS Office, and your .docx or .rtf file will go straight in the recycle bin. Stick to Win 95/2000 .doc files.

Aisinikins

Saw this tip somewhere before and ever since I've started using it I've been getting more interviews. I now name my cv FirstnameSurnameCVCompany & the cover letter in a similar way. Still no job on the horizon but sure at least people are getting in contact now.

April O Neill

kylith wrote: »

Put your name in the file name when you are sending your CV. It sounds obvious, doesn't it? Unfortunately the majority of people don't seem to do it.

Great tip, and something I started doing myself this year.

Wishbone Ash

Another tip - please refrain from sending messages to all your email addresses. If you email me relating to employment etc., I don't want to receive subsequent stupid jokes, links to bargains you're come across or pictures of you partying. I've had to contact several people about this lately and they were rightly mortified.

Guyanachronism

kylith wrote: »

I should probably also add: use a format which you know can be opened on any computer. Strange as it may sound not every company has upgraded their MS Office, and your .docx or .rtf file will go straight in the recycle bin. Stick to Win 95/2000 .doc files.

I would recommend .pdf, it would be very rare for a serious company not to have adobe and .pdf will prevent the format from scrambling.

cloudatlas

Thanks for this, I'm not guilty of the mycv sin but one of my files is a docx. I thought that made it accessible across all versions... obviously not. I applied for a job recently that asked for a resume so I just sent my c.v. and a very short email summary, should I have sent a cover letter also.

kippy

Guyanachronism wrote: »

I would recommend .pdf, it would be very rare for a serious company not to have adobe and .pdf will prevent the format from scrambling.

100 %
PDF is the format of choice for CV's although if you go through a recruiter they may request it in Doc format - I'd usually ask them why (it's so they can modify it normally)

April O Neill

Guyanachronism wrote: »

I would recommend .pdf, it would be very rare for a serious company not to have adobe and .pdf will prevent the format from scrambling.

I often send both!

BailMeOut

also check how your display name appears in your email setup. Send a message to another address or friend to test as you would be surprised how some look when received at other end.

kylith

Guyanachronism wrote: »

I would recommend .pdf, it would be very rare for a serious company not to have adobe and .pdf will prevent the format from scrambling.

I didn't know that, but I'll be doing it from now on.

the_syco

Recruiters prefer doc so that they can edit out your contact info, me thinks.

Mr. Loverman

It's kind of grim that you have to tell people to do this.

uck51js9zml2yt

I saw a recruiters copy of my cv. I didn't know myself:)

maxwell smart

Guyanachronism wrote: »

I would recommend .pdf, it would be very rare for a serious company not to have adobe and .pdf will prevent the format from scrambling.

I don't agree with this. I am presently running my fourth recruitment drive since October and I get various formats. I prefer .doc format for the following reason:

I firstly read the cover letter. If it is coherent then I will double click the attachment and save it to the specific folder for this purpose. (if there are spelling mistakes it gets deleted).
If it is a .pdf file it automatically opens the file. I then have one more step before I can save it to the correct folder. You might think this is a bit picky, but consider I get up to 150 resumes per day. I don't have time to waste on another unnecessary step in the process.
Also, when I then review the applications later that day, the .pdf format files always open up in zoomed mode.

What I am trying to say is that the applicant should make it as easy as possible for the recruiter to check their application.

FYI this is a direct to employer position and no agency is involved.

P.S. when including your email address, maybe don't use your 'humorous' email that you created some years ago while having a wild time in college. Anything with 'hotbod' or 'gogo' in the address is not a good sign...

Posy

I normally send my cover letter in doc format only, then my CV in doc and pdf formats, like MarySmith_docCV and MarySmith_pdf_CV.
I don't know if I should put pdf or doc in the actual title but I figure it's quicker to see the format right away?

28064212

maxwell smart wrote: »

I firstly read the cover letter. If it is coherent then I will double click the attachment and save it to the specific folder for this purpose. (if there are spelling mistakes it gets deleted).
If it is a .pdf file it automatically opens the file. I then have one more step before I can save it to the correct folder.

That's down to the settings on your personal machine. Another recipient could have PDFs to save, and docs to open automatically

maxwell smart wrote: »

Also, when I then review the applications later that day, the .pdf format files always open up in zoomed mode.

That's fixable by the applicant, but you can also force all pdfs to open at a particular zoom level (Preferences - Page Display - Zoom). Not to mention the keyboard shortcuts for zoom (Ctrl+0 fits page, Ctrl+'+' zooms in, Ctrl+'-' zooms out)

maxwell smart wrote: »

What I am trying to say is that the applicant should make it as easy as possible for the recruiter to check their application.

The recruiter should also make it easy on themselves.

Crazyteacher

When saving as a .docx click maintain compatibility with earlier versions

LowKeyReturn

OMG the great PDF debate is still going on. I like this tips thing though here's mine.

Sensible email addresses. Wigglytitties@hotmail.com used to go straight in the bin. I also hate the modern tendency to use xxx as in technomanxxxxxxxxxx@stupid.git shows a complete lack of originality but then I'm just getting picky.

April O Neill

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

It's kind of grim that you have to tell people to do this.

I don't agree. You give so much attention to perfecting your CV and cover letter that it can be easy to forget this minor little thing. Well, it's not minor, it transpires, but I can easily see how it could be overlooked.

Shelflife

Good advise.

Dont just send an email with your name and number and ask me to call you.

If we specifically state in the ad not to call the shop, dont call the shop.

If we specifically state in the ad that its a night job/weekend job, dont wait until the interview to state that those hours dont suit.

Send your CV to a friend and ask them to print it out and check the layout and the spelling, i got a two page CV with 26 spelling mistakes recently.

Put a phone number on the page.

If a strange number (not private) rings you--- answer it, it just might be me ringing about an interview. I was once told that they didnt ring back as they didnt recognise the number .

Dont haggle over the interview time/day, if im looking to fill a spot quickly telling me that this week doesnt really suit isnt going to cut it.

Turn up on time, even a min late at interview usually means youve blown it.

Dont answer your phone and tell me to hang on a sec when I go to greet you and bring you into the interview.

Dress well, it doesnt have to be a suit if you are going for a shop assistant but at least dress smart.

All of the above happened during a recent job offer we had. 45 applicants, loads thrown out because of errors on their CVs, 3 we couldnt get in touch with in order to interview them, 2 who wouldnt come to an interview,1 who didnt turn up to an interview and bizarrely 1 who we wanted to offer weekend work to,with a view to becoming full time never returned our calls despite ringing twice.

cloudatlas

Shelflife wrote: »

If we specifically state in the ad not to call the shop, dont call the shop.

It's de rigeour nowadays not to get a confirmation of receipt or to send out rejection emails. I see don't contact us stated a lot etc.. The only thing I would like employers to put on adverts is 'if you don't hear from us by this date then your application has not been successful'. That is the least I expect.

Shelflife

cloudatlas wrote: »

It's de rigeour nowadays not to get a confirmation of receipt or to send out rejection emails. I see don't contact us stated a lot etc.. The only thing I would like employers to put on adverts is 'if you don't hear from us by this date then your application has not been successful'. That is the least I expect.

We reply to all applicants, we requested email applications, what we didnt want was people ringing the shop and asking questions.

Wishbone Ash

cloudatlas wrote: »

It's de rigeour nowadays not to get a confirmation of receipt or to send out rejection emails

Although I get many employment queries via email, I only accept hard copy CV's and I always acknowledge each one with an signed and endorsed letter on headed paper.

When I get a query via email I always respond with information regarding the position and application process. Many of those making the initial query do not acknowledge my response to them despite taking time to answer all their questions.

My email address has my full name. Despite this, most of the hard copy applications/cover letters/CV's I receive have my name spelled incorrectly.

My title is often incorrect also. If you don't know the title of the person you're applying to, ask or leave it out - don't make up a title!

kylith

kylith wrote: »

I should probably also add: use a format which you know can be opened on any computer. Strange as it may sound not every company has upgraded their MS Office, and your .docx or .rtf file will go straight in the recycle bin. Stick to Win 95/2000 .doc files.

PDF is good aswell. You know exactly how it will look for them so attach both that and .doc

tatli_lokma

If you are attaching a .doc file, please please format it correctly. And I don't just mean so it "looks" formatted, but that it actually is. So use tabs not spaces, align margins correctly, set up bullet points correctly, have any tables set up properly etc. This is particularly important if you are applying for an admin job or one that requires attention to detail. As soon as I get a .doc file I straight away show the formatting and check it. If you used space bar instead of tab its a black mark against you. The amount of times I have read in the cover letter 'attention to detail' or 'excellent word skills' only for the CV formatting to say otherwise.

If you don't know how to format properly at least have the sense to save it as a .pdf

Also don't email/phone asking inane questions or asking information that is clearly mentioned in the advert. Don't email/phone and hour after sending asking if we got it. If I get dozens of applications a day I am not going to acknowledge each one as they arrive - I will reply en masse to several as a mail merge later. If you haven't heard anything 24 hours before the closing date fine, check they got your application, but don't assume that all they have to do all day is reply to every application as it arrives in.

April O Neill

Deleted User wrote: »

PDF is good aswell. You know exactly how it will look for them so attach both that and .doc

Yeah, this is what I do. It's no trouble to attach both, so what not just do it?

April O Neill

tatli_lokma wrote: »

The amount of times I have read in the cover letter 'attention to detail' or 'excellent word skills' only for the CV formatting to say otherwise.

OK, writing you have good word skills whilst getting the formatting wrong is bad, but an imperfectly formatted CV wouldn't necessarily make me think someone lacked attention to detail, TBH.

tatli_lokma

April O Neill wrote: »

OK, writing you have good word skills whilst getting the formatting wrong is bad, but an imperfectly formatted CV wouldn't necessarily make me think someone lacked attention to detail, TBH.

Even If you are applying for an admin job? Where formatting and correct word processing are an integral part of the job??

April O Neill

tatli_lokma wrote: »

Even If you are applying for an admin job? Where formatting and correct word processing are an integral part of the job??

For admin, yes formatting is important.

For many other things... nah.

tatli_lokma

Well I did specify my post was in relation to admin roles.

April O Neill

tatli_lokma wrote: »

Well I did specify my post was in relation to admin roles.

Well, you said it was "particularly important" for admin roles, which suggests you were talking about other professions too.

efb

.rtf is a bad thing...???

Francesco

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

It's kind of grim that you have to tell people to do this.

Why is it grim ? Not many people have experience in sorting dozens of CV files, and I doubt anyone got a job/lost a job by specifically by placing/not placing their name in the filename. It's anal in the extreme.

April O Neill

Francesco wrote: »

Why is it grim ? Not many people have experience in sorting dozens of CV files, and I doubt anyone got a job/lost a job by specifically by placing/not placing their name in the filename. It's anal in the extreme.

Unfortunately, I don't think that's true, I reckon people have lost out because of it.

But I don't think it's grim, I think it's a very, very easy thing to overlook, especially after finishing off a specifically tailored cover letter and CV.

Esel

Shelflife wrote: »

Good advise.

Dont just send an email with your name and number and ask me to call you.

If we specifically state in the ad not to call the shop, dont call the shop.

If we specifically state in the ad that its a night job/weekend job, dont wait until the interview to state that those hours dont suit.

Send your CV to a friend and ask them to print it out and check the layout and the spelling, i got a two page CV with 26 spelling mistakes recently.

Put a phone number on the page.

If a strange number (not private) rings you--- answer it, it just might be me ringing about an interview. I was once told that they didnt ring back as they didnt recognise the number .

Dont haggle over the interview time/day, if im looking to fill a spot quickly telling me that this week doesnt really suit isnt going to cut it.

Turn up on time, even a min late at interview usually means youve blown it.

Dont answer your phone and tell me to hang on a sec when I go to greet you and bring you into the interview.

Dress well, it doesnt have to be a suit if you are going for a shop assistant but at least dress smart.

All of the above happened during a recent job offer we had. 45 applicants, loads thrown out because of errors on their CVs, 3 we couldnt get in touch with in order to interview them, 2 who wouldnt come to an interview,1 who didnt turn up to an interview and bizarrely 1 who we wanted to offer weekend work to,with a view to becoming full time never returned our calls despite ringing twice.

Is your apostrophe key broken?

Some good advice though.

allibastor

Its something I am in big favour of. Nothing is more off putting than having to root through someones email to find out who they are and what they want, usually they just go to the bin.

Shelflife

Esel wrote: »

Is your apostrophe key broken?

Some good advice though.

So I post with some common failings of previous applicants and try to help people out with some application advice and you come on and go through peoples posts looking for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.

While you may well think that there is a certain irony in a post having mistakes while telling people to avoid mistakes, the fact remains that im trying to help people while you are being a pedantic pat and offering nothing to the subject matter.

Ficheall

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Although I get many employment queries via email, I only accept hard copy CV's and I always acknowledge each one with an signed and endorsed letter on headed paper.

Really? Does it not make more sense to have soft copies of everything rather than hard? Easier to file, find, search, etc?

I always send .pdfs because my CV is done in Latex. On that note, though - how do employers feel about Latex documents - would they prefer a MS Word job?

Toast4532

I have only been sending CVs in .pdf format, never .doc. Oops.

When you email, post or hand deliver a CV to a company and they don't reply or send a letter/email acknowledging your CV, is it appropriate to ring them say a week later and ask if they have received it or should you just let it be?

tatli_lokma

Ficheall wrote: »

I always send .pdfs because my CV is done in Latex. On that note, though - how do employers feel about Latex documents - would they prefer a MS Word job?

Yes we always prefer .pdf or .doc as that way I can save it to our file management system in one click. Other formats I have to manually convert it, save a copy locally and then transfer it to the file manager. At least if you offer 2 formats I can chose which one I wish to save/view.

Although in fairness we do specify the accepted file formats in our job adverts.

tatli_lokma

Toast4532 wrote: »

I have only been sending CVs in .pdf format, never .doc. Oops.

When you email, post or hand deliver a CV to a company and they don't reply or send a letter/email acknowledging your CV, is it appropriate to ring them say a week later and ask if they have received it or should you just let it be?

It depends - if there is a closing date then don't contact until close to that date. And if you hand delivered it why would you think it hadn't been received?

If there is a closing date and you haven't had a confirmation by the day before that date then a quick call to confirm would be okay with me, because if for any reason it wasn't received then I would appreciate that you want to resend it before the closing date. However if the closing date is days/weeks away you are just giving me a headache! Read my post earlier about sending confirmation emails en masse rather than as each one arrives.

Toast4532

tatli_lokma wrote: »

It depends - if there is a closing date then don't contact until close to that date. And if you hand delivered it why would you think it hadn't been received?

If there is a closing date and you haven't had a confirmation by the day before that date then a quick call to confirm would be okay with me, because if for any reason it wasn't received then I would appreciate that you want to resend it before the closing date. However if the closing date is days/weeks away you are just giving me a headache! Read my post earlier about sending confirmation emails en masse rather than as each one arrives.

Thanks for the info. I did see that post earlier, what I actually meant, but didn't specify was, if I just email in a CV looking for work, despite not seeing any jobs advertised, and I don't receive any reply from the company, when is it acceptable to contact them to ask if they have received it?

As for hand delivering CVs - do companies ever send an acknowledgement letter or email or do you just not hear from them unless they have work?

I'm in the process of job hunting now, and while I apply mostly via email, I was considering hand delivering some CVs, but my issue is, if the SW want proof* that I am applying for jobs, how can I provide proof of the hand delivered CVs if I have no acknowledgement letters/emails from companies I hand deliver CVs too?

*when I applied for unemployment benefit I was told to keep proof of all job applications in case they SW ask for it.

Obviously with CVs sent via email I can print off the emails I sent to the companies.

Mr. Loverman

Francesco wrote: »

Why is it grim ? Not many people have experience in sorting dozens of CV files, and I doubt anyone got a job/lost a job by specifically by placing/not placing their name in the filename. It's anal in the extreme.

There isn't just one CV in the world - there are billions of them. Would you think it was weird if every book was called "Book"?

I find it grim that on some level people think their CV is the only CV.

starlit

I always put my name on cv and cover letters regardless if it online application or sent by email.

tatli_lokma

Toast4532 wrote: »

Thanks for the info. I did see that post earlier, what I actually meant, but didn't specify was, if I just email in a CV looking for work, despite not seeing any jobs advertised, and I don't receive any reply from the company, when is it acceptable to contact them to ask if they have received it?

As for hand delivering CVs - do companies ever send an acknowledgement letter or email or do you just not hear from them unless they have work?

I'm in the process of job hunting now, and while I apply mostly via email, I was considering hand delivering some CVs, but my issue is, if the SW want proof* that I am applying for jobs, how can I provide proof of the hand delivered CVs if I have no acknowledgement letters/emails from companies I hand deliver CVs too?

*when I applied for unemployment benefit I was told to keep proof of all job applications in case they SW ask for it.

Obviously with CVs sent via email I can print off the emails I sent to the companies.

I would say that for an unsolicited enquiry as to if there is work, then no don't email/phone. If they even bother to read your cv will be one thing and if they do have something for you they will contact you. Personally I always acknowledge any application or cv to advise there at no positions, that we don't keep unsolicited cvs on file and that any positions will be advertised and specify the application process. But I know a lot of companies don't even read cvs if they are not in application for an advertised role.

As for proof of handing it in, well you can't really get that as the only thing you could do is ask reception or whomever to sign for it and that might seem a bit cheeky. As far as SW goes stick to email applications.