# How strenuous do you find applying for jobs?



## Cloo (Dec 15, 2011)

Well, I'm sure it's quite different if you've been applying for 12 months rather than, say, 12 days, but generally how much of a chore do you find applying for jobs?

I find it quite exciting and energising, so I generally enjoy it. I find it easy to look through ads and I don't tend to spend more than an hour or so on my applications. But my other half finds it much more of a chore - he finds it hard to find time to look at ads and tends to need massive chunks of time, maybe even whole weekends, to complete an application. That said, he's in a field where applications are often through online forms, so he's much more likely to have to start one more or less from scratch, whereas I can have a couple of CV templates that I alter slightly according to role.

I suppose I'm lucky in that I've never had more than a few months of searching, but that may change next year. On the whole, I feel that spending too much time on applications is a case of diminishing returns, and it discourages one from applying for stuff as each one becomes such a titanic effort, but that's just my way, I guess.


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## marty21 (Dec 15, 2011)

hate it - should put more effort into it - recently applied for a similar job here but wasn't short-listed - looked over the application - and tbf - I hadn't put enough effort in and sold myself enough


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## jakethesnake (Dec 15, 2011)

I hate applying for jobs. The worst bit for me is the negative nostalgia that reviewing my life thus far provokes. All that unfulfilled promise of my early years, the lost years of my 20's. .. all those shit dead-end jobs, indifferent accademic performance and patchy work record. Ennui very quickly sets in and I find it hard to motivate myself to do any other than have a drink/smoke and forget all about it.


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## StoneRoad (Dec 15, 2011)

Varies quite a lot - I have been known to put a lot into some applications, and a lot less into others! One ot two jobs have fallen into my lap with very little effort on my part - for others I have worked really hard at getting a good application togther and been very disappointed to find that I had wasted all that time as the job went to an internal applicant (in one case, a totally unqualified offsping on one of the directors had already started the job before the closing date had passed !)
Keeping a proper record is essential these days....but what I used to find infuriating was the places that did not have the basic politness to pop the stamped/addressed card into the post to conform that my application had been received. Got very expensive on stamps......

I have had quite a few spells out of work - and at least two went over the 12mths.....now I effectively work for myself (I part own the little company I work for....) but unless the condems have a radical re-think of their policies, I could be out of work in a few weeks....

E2A - good luck with your job searching......


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## Mrs Magpie (Dec 15, 2011)

I hate it so much I tend to stay in jobs I'm not totally happy with (my record is 16 years!).


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## SpookyFrank (Dec 15, 2011)

_Why do you want to work for this company?_

Because I need money to live you cunt. If I really have to I will perform whatever menial tasks you require as per instructions, turn up on time, keep out of trouble and do all that other degrading shit, but expecting me to pretend I actually want to do it is a bridge too fucking far.

Why do you care about this company? Because they pay you. Why do you think I'm any different? They're not going to pay me anything like as much as you, so I should be well within my rights to care a lot less than you do.

Or maybe you actually do feel loyalty, maybe you're so stupid as to think that your little gang of money grubbing cunts is somehow different from all the other gangs of money grubbing cunts, maybe you think there's some source of honour or pride in what you do. Maybe you really are that stupid, who knows? Who the fuck cares.

You may think you're important, well you're not. Nobody will care about you when you're dead. None of the cunts you work with will miss you. You are less than nothing, an insignificant cog in a giant bullshit machine that can be replaced with any one of a million equally worthless, insignificant, stupid, pathetic, pointless cunts. And maybe I'm just a cog too, maybe I'm worth even less than you. The only real difference between you and me is that you and your kind are actually proud of what you are, you think this whole fucking fiasco is actually a good thing.

I would kill you right now for your part in creating this bullshit civilisation that cheapens and humiliates whoever it cannot simply destroy, but letting you live is a far worse punishment. I hope you rot forever in this hell of your own making, I hope that love and joy and kindness remain strangers to you for the rest of your days, I hope that you get everything you've ever wished for and I hope you choke on it.


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## Puddy_Tat (Dec 15, 2011)

SpookyFrank said:


> _Why do you want to work for this company?_
> 
> Because I need money to live you cunt...



It has a certain style.

What's your success rate with this one?


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## SpookyFrank (Dec 15, 2011)

Puddy_Tat said:


> What's your success rate with this one?



I got a job as a GP's receptionist


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## siramone (Dec 16, 2011)

If I see hundreds applying for a position then I won't spend much time on it.
If its more specialist then I will try to write more about what they want and what I think I can do for them. That gets me excited as I see the company is progressive and forward looking.

However CVs writing can be slow and difficult to get exactly right- especially if agencies are in the loop and knowing they will be the ones who bounce you. Never liked agencies and never will.
Keep perservering and do at least one application a day for momentum.


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## siramone (Dec 16, 2011)

SpookyFrank said:


> I got a job as a GP's receptionist


I like your honesty


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## Cloo (Dec 16, 2011)

Im not applying yet - I'm going to talk to my employers in April about returning from mat leave in June/July, but there is a pretty good chance there won't be a role for me to return to. So I'm probably going to start applying for new stuff in spring to be on the safe side, and I'm going to review my CV in January. I'm bodged up a quick version at the start of my maternity leave, but I need to seriously refine it and have at least three versions available emphasing different aspects of my role. Slightly scary, as it'll be 8 years since I last went for a job.


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## g force (Dec 19, 2011)

To date i've been super lucky...jobs have come to me via LinkedIn. But then that's probably the industry and roles.


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## Onket (Apr 30, 2012)

marty21 said:


> hate it - should put more effort into it - recently applied for a similar job here but wasn't short-listed - looked over the application - and tbf - I hadn't put enough effort in and sold myself enough


 
You are me.


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Apr 30, 2012)

I hate it, but as a freelance I have to do it over and over and over again. I now have a database of covering letters and tailored CVs
I almost never get the ones I apply for, just the ones I am directly recommended for.


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## Badgers (Apr 30, 2012)

Dreading it


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## Onket (Apr 30, 2012)

I'm supposed to be applying for my manager's job right now. It's hell.


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## Me76 (May 1, 2012)

Just tried and failed to get two done this evening. It's hard enough when you have free time to think about it but after a day at work my brain is frazzled.


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## Hocus Eye. (May 1, 2012)

My father was self-employed but one Christmas applied to work on the Post. There was a question on the form that asked "Are you in need of money?" He says that he answered truthfully that he was or 'why the hell would he be applying for the job?' He said he thought afterwards that it may explain why he didn't get it.


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## SpookyFrank (May 1, 2012)

Hocus Eye. said:


> My father was self-employed but one Christmas applied to work on the Post. There was a question on the form that asked "Are you in need of money?" He says that he answered truthfully that he was or 'why the hell would he be applying for the job?' He said he thought afterwards that it may explain why he didn't get it.


 
Fuck working for anyone who puts questions on their application forms that pretty much require you to lie in order to get the job. Nobody does christmas shifts at the post office for fun.


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## Onket (May 1, 2012)

I applied once and never heard a thing back. My application must have been worse than your old man's.

I once got hauled in by a previous employer for internet usage & general not-pulling-weight accusations. He asked why I was working there, and I was honest with my answer. I thought his head was about to explode- I have never seen anyone go redder. I think I was only there a matter of days after that.


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## Cloo (May 2, 2012)

I've started applying... I'm certainly getting a degree of can't-be-arsedness for jobs I'd like to go for, but would take a serious reorganisation of my CV, and all for a fairly slim chance of getting it because I'd have to massively over-exaggerate my online experience, or my writing experience etc.


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## sojourner (May 2, 2012)

SpookyFrank said:


> _Why do you want to work for this company?_
> 
> Because I need money to live you cunt. If I really have to I will perform whatever menial tasks you require as per instructions, turn up on time, keep out of trouble and do all that other degrading shit, but expecting me to pretend I actually want to do it is a bridge too fucking far.
> 
> ...


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## sojourner (May 2, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Dreading it


Baj - didn't know your job was under threat?


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## binka (May 2, 2012)

siramone said:


> If I see hundreds applying for a position then I won't spend much time on it.


at the end of 2008 i was temping in manchester on a 2 week assignment and my entire role there was sorting applications for a job. it was basic admin £16k p/a 37.5 hours p/w. for that position there were approximately 230 applications. something like 95% of them were really half arsed and were binned almost immediately.

as for the topic i dont find it that strenuous. i quit my last job about 2 months ago to concentrate on finding a job i actually want to do with half decent career prospects. so i apply for maybe 1 or 2 per week and i make a huge effort because i know there will be more qualified/experienced people than me applying but i also know a lot of people don't put the effort in. the most important thing is the cover letter imo. 2 paragraphs on how you match the job description goes a long way


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

binka said:


> i quit my last job about 2 months ago to concentrate on finding a job i actually want to do with half decent career prospects.


 
Good luck. I think you're mental, but good luck with it.


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

siramone said:


> If I see hundreds applying for a position then I won't spend much time on it.


 
How do you know how many people have applied for a job?!


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## binka (May 2, 2012)

Onket said:


> Good luck. I think you're mental, but good luck with it.


maybe. i turned down a job on monday and have an interview tomorrow, one on friday and one on tuesday. of course i probably wouldnt take this approach if i had a family or bills to pay


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

Of course. Does look like you're getting results if you're getting that many interviews though.


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## oryx (May 2, 2012)

I hate it. I've managed to go nearly 4 years without having to do it - in the four years before that I was temping/in jobs I didn't like and must have filled in dozens of applications.

As there is no such thing as a job for life any more, I have no doubt I will be doing it again before too long - a couple of years if I'm extremely lucky.

The task hangs over you like essays at college used to.


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## gabi (May 2, 2012)

Cloo said:


> Well, I'm sure it's quite different if you've been applying for 12 months rather than, say, 12 days, but generally how much of a chore do you find applying for jobs?
> 
> I find it quite exciting and energising, so I generally enjoy it. I find it easy to look through ads and I don't tend to spend more than an hour or so on my applications. But my other half finds it much more of a chore - he finds it hard to find time to look at ads and tends to need massive chunks of time, maybe even whole weekends, to complete an application. That said, he's in a field where applications are often through online forms, so he's much more likely to have to start one more or less from scratch, whereas I can have a couple of CV templates that I alter slightly according to role.
> 
> I suppose I'm lucky in that I've never had more than a few months of searching, but that may change next year. On the whole, I feel that spending too much time on applications is a case of diminishing returns, and it discourages one from applying for stuff as each one becomes such a titanic effort, but that's just my way, I guess.


 
Yeh i enjoy it too. it's quite refreshing... is your other half in the public sector perchance? they tend to use those online application form things which are tedious beyond belief. no idea why you can't just send them your CV as in the private sector..


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

Personally I think the public sector applications are a much better and fairer way. The private sectors should change, if anything.


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## Badgers (May 2, 2012)

Onket said:
			
		

> Personally I think the public sector applications are a much better and fairer way. The private sectors should change, if anything.



Was that your thought at the time of moving from the private to public sector?


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## gabi (May 2, 2012)

Onket said:


> Personally I think the public sector applications are a much better and fairer way. The private sectors should change, if anything.


 
I disagree. For instance I can't fill out most of those forms as it stops you if you don't enter anything for formal education (which I don't have).

in the private sector i just send through my CV and some examples of my work. Usually the work experience trumps education but in applying for public sector roles I can't even show them the work. Which is stupid.


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Was that your thought at the time of moving from the private to public sector?


 
I have thought that from the first time I saw one of those competency based application form, yes.


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

gabi said:


> I disagree. For instance I can't fill out most of those forms as it stops you if you don't enter anything for formal education (which I don't have).
> 
> in the private sector i just send through my CV and some examples of my work. Usually the work experience trumps education but in applying for public sector roles I can't even show them the work. Which is stupid.


 
Unlucky.


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## gabi (May 2, 2012)

Nah, not really. I'd rather stab myself in the face than work in the public sector again - but necessity occasionally demands i have to try.


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

If you find it so terrible then perhaps you shouldn't bother.

It's a bit odd, tbf. The most recent application I did would allow you to get round the 'formal education' bit which you claim you have problems with, and if you get an interview you can take samples of your work to that.

I suspect you are letting your views on the public sector have an influence on what you are posting. Or you don't like having to slightly put yourself out in order to get the job which you think you deserve, never mind that everyone else has to use the same methods to apply.


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## Badgers (May 2, 2012)

Onket said:
			
		

> I have thought that from the first time I saw one of those competency based application form, yes.



Just curiosity really.


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

Badgers said:


> Just curiosity really.


 
What do you think?


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## Badgers (May 2, 2012)

Onket said:
			
		

> What do you think?



Mixed. I am light on qualifications but have enough to get by. Just found the process very laborious on the couple of times I did. Do like a fairer system where possible.


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

They are a nightmare of a task to fill in from scratch, but if you're applying for similar jobs then lots of what you write is transferrable.


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

p.s. They don't _rely_ on qualifications, btw, there is just a space for you to put them in, just as there would be on any application form, and as you would put them on your CV.


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## Badgers (May 2, 2012)

Good points. I think the challenge is that a lot of people jump between jobs, often for financial reasons. Public sector jobs often have longer applications, longer waiting periods and more candidates. 

Still, if you got in


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## Onket (May 2, 2012)

They are by no means secure jobs, these days.


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## Badgers (May 2, 2012)

Onket said:
			
		

> They are by no means secure jobs, these days.



Few are I guess


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## 8115 (May 2, 2012)

I hate applying for jobs.  I hate forms, I hate new things, I hate rejection.


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## Bob_the_lost (May 27, 2012)

Very. Which is a pain as my recent offer has just been rescinded and i've only got a week's notice left.

Bollocks.

*Tarts up CV yet again*


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## Radar (May 30, 2012)

I hate it, but haven't had to do it for a few years now.

TBH, if the current job I'm in hadn't been clued up enough to have a lab test (pile of routers/firewalls/pcs - now get stuckin and build this VPN based network) I'd have been screwed as there were gaps in my experience. Luckily I have a boss who was bright enough to take the CV and the lab in parallel and make me an offer 

By all accounts the job scene has got tougher since then...


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## Cloo (May 31, 2012)

Just written a dull, generic covering letter for a job I'd really rather like - now to work on making it less dull and generic. That's usually the way it goes - get all the phrases you need out of the box, but then set them more interestingly. Trouble is, there's loads I'd like to get into this letter, so I think I need to work on expressing some of it more concisely, then it'll read better.

At least I've found a good mission statement for the top of my CV that I can use for a number of different jobs without it sounding too impersonal or vague , but is still quite punchy.


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## Onket (May 31, 2012)

You've found it, not written it?


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## Cloo (May 31, 2012)

No, I've written, but I mean found as in 'settled on'!


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## Onket (May 31, 2012)

Good stuff.


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## Cloo (Jun 13, 2012)

Having said in the OP I don't find it too hard - it is much harder this time around! This is the first time I'm really applying for experienced, higher level jobs, so I guess I have much more to say and I have to provide proof of achievement rather than just stating what it is I do to show I have certain skills and experience. This means really having to rejig CV and cover letter for every role, and it does get wearing.


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## lighterthief (Jun 13, 2012)

Hmm, hate it.  I'm on a 1yr contract that ends in Feb (it's uncertain if it will translate to a permanent role) so I have to start jobhunting in the autumn to be on the safe side.  I'm dreading it, particularly as the Norwegians are a conservative bunch and my language skills, whilst passable, are not yet of professional standard.


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## Grandma Death (Jun 13, 2012)

I dislike applying for work. Having said that the field I work in a lot of the employers ask identical or similar questions-as I save all my applications I sometimes simply cut and paste paragraphs or whole swathes of info from old applications into current applications. It saves a great deal of time. If I apply for a job thats not quite in my area of 'expertise' I find those applications hard to do because I have to think about how I communicate my skills to meet their criteria in the job spec.


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## trashpony (Jun 13, 2012)

I really hate it. I don't think I've ever got a job through replying to an ad - it's all be through agencies. I spent bloody ages applying for a job as a sort of assistant at a school last year and it was a total waste of time.

Now the freelance work has picked up, my work generally comes through someone I used to work with emailing or calling me


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## Onket (Jun 13, 2012)

Right.

I'd really appreciate some advice on how to prepare for an interview which is actually a presentation. I don't think I've ever even done a work presentation in my life. Or any presentation.

Urgh.


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## trashpony (Jun 13, 2012)

Do you know what the topic is? Send me a PM if you like - that's part of what I do (presentation training)


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## Onket (Jun 14, 2012)

I get the topic an hour beforehand.


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## 5t3IIa (Jun 14, 2012)

Onket said:


> I get the topic an hour beforehand.


 
No idea at all what it might be??!


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## Pickman's model (Jun 14, 2012)

Onket said:


> Right.
> 
> I'd really appreciate some advice on how to prepare for an interview which is actually a presentation. I don't think I've ever even done a work presentation in my life. Or any presentation.
> 
> Urgh.


quickly, would seem appropriate


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## Onket (Jun 14, 2012)

5t3IIa said:


> No idea at all what it might be??!


 
I assume it'll be something to do with my job, and the one I am applying for.

It's more the presentation side of things I was hoping for advice on.


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## Cloo (Jun 14, 2012)

Just had an agent phone today about the job I just applied for directly, which closed on Monday. She said they were asking for more CVs, which probably means they weren't that impressed by mine. Either that, or I'm in a small field. But looking at the agency's spec for the same job, I think I screwed up by not being specific about what phase of education I have worked on books for (all of them), as the agency's ad really emphasises that it's secondary and my application didn't really talk about that. Arse.

Oh well, lesson learned for future applications.


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## trashpony (Jun 14, 2012)

Onket said:


> I assume it'll be something to do with my job, and the one I am applying for.
> 
> It's more the presentation side of things I was hoping for advice on.


I'll send you a PM tomorrow.


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## Onket (Jun 15, 2012)

Cheers.


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## Puddy_Tat (Jun 15, 2012)

Aaaaargh

I have spent most of this afternoon navigating around an online application website that's a pile of steaming shite (including losing all you've just entered if you try to 'preview' rather than 'submit' a page)

And that's aside from the effort of trying to come up with appropriate forms of BS to answer the bloody silly questions.


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## bluejeanjunky (Jun 19, 2012)

How to avoid those days wherein you get so tired from applying for a job?

I guess you have to have a plan.. plan it in advance.. know what kind of job you really want to get into and just be confident.. I guess you get tired because of stress. If you're prepared, you won't get stressed.


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## Cloo (Jun 19, 2012)

I just wish there were enough jobs to be tired of applying for. At this rate I'll only be able to apply for about 2 a month. Mind you, once my redundancy is official I'll be able to go public and really hope that it's true that the best way to find a job is through your contacts. Just a shame I don't think I really know anyone in the right area.


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## Artaxerxes (Jun 20, 2012)

Dislike it but as long as I can just fire off a CV and brief paragraph on "gissajobmisterplease" I'm fine with it.

Application forms can go fucking die in a fire though, they are shit and a pain in the arse to fill out. Even worse are the ones with stupid questions like "how would you solve world hunger?" I wish I was joking about that one. I ended up just saying "grow more food"

Gnnghh.


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## Garek (Jun 20, 2012)

SpookyFrank said:


> _Why do you want to work for this company?_
> 
> Because I need money to live you cunt.


 
I once failed to get a shelf-stacking job because I accidentally laughed when asked, in the most sincere and eager voice, "What makes you passionate about the idea of working for Safeway?" 

EDIT: To answer the original OP I fucking hate it but I currently hate my job more.


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## Fuchs66 (Jun 20, 2012)

I once was told, in no uncertain terms, not to apply for a position because I happened to ask the recruiter of a particular large mining corporation if they'd managed to sort out the (Danube) cyanide leakage problem that they'd had. 

However I usually hate applying, its not the listing of skills/CV writing I dont like but the coming up with a decent cover letter/letter of intent. I hate blowing my own trumpet, at the interviews I just settle down and usually end up having a pleasant chat, although at the interview for the position I have now I ended up having a blazing argument with a Russian about a technical issue (I think that got me the job).


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## PlaidDragon (Jun 20, 2012)

So fucked off. Just arranged an interview today, did some research on the company and it turns out they've just had an ASA ruling upheld against them for their misleading adverts. What seemed like 12-18k a year, permanent full time role turns out to be door to door selling, commission based self-employment. The interview is tomorrow, what do you all advise? I've very sceptical that this company is right for me, as their corporate jargon just obscured what they're really about. On the other hand, I really need a job, and am applying for about 10 a day. No idea what to think about this tbh.


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## Onket (Jun 21, 2012)

Only just seen this.

I'd say go & see what it looks like. You don't _have_ to take the job.


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## Garek (Jun 21, 2012)

"What is unique about you?"

Why do they have to include questions like this in applications form!?


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## PlaidDragon (Jun 21, 2012)

Onket said:


> Only just seen this.
> 
> I'd say go & see what it looks like. You don't _have_ to take the job.


 
I went. It was the upstairs office of an estate agent, unmarked with their company logo, sparsely furnished and very dodgy. The manager (and from what I gather founder of the company) was sickly sweet and more cheesy than a wheel of Camembert.  I'm thinking about contacting the L'Pool Echo about writing an article for them, they've already been done by the ASA and they're continuing to lie and try and rope people in.


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## Greebo (Jun 21, 2012)

PlaidDragon said:


> I went. <snip>I'm thinking about contacting the L'Pool Echo about writing an article for them, they've already been done by the ASA and they're continuing to lie and try and rope people in.


Good idea - you won't be the only person looking for work who was fooled (or nearly fooled) by that firm.


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## Onket (Jun 22, 2012)

I agree with Greebo on that.


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## Cloo (Jun 22, 2012)

Garek said:


> "What is unique about you?"
> 
> Why do they have to include questions like this in applications form!?


'I use antlers in all my decorating'


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