Tag Archives: Jobs

How to Be a Polite Job Applicant

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Dress sharp!

Dress sharp!

Just so you know that I do actually know of which I speak, I have quite a bit of HR experience in addition to being a self proclaimed etiquette expert.

The Application

  • Make sure you fully read the job posting and follow all instructions. If they need your resume and cover letter in a Word document, you had better format it that way. If they do not state a preference, put it in a PDF because it guarantees that the formatting stays the way you intended it.
  • Once it is in, it is in and now you have to wait. A lot of advice will tell you to call to follow up. DO NOT do this, you will just irritate the HR person or hiring manager and they will throw your application directly into the trash (or circular file, which I literally just found out means the trash a couple of weeks ago.)
  • Your extended social network is a great way to find out about jobs. However, if you see a job posted by someone you know on the internet but who does not really know anything about you or your skill set, do not imply on your application that you know that person. It is not a good look when the hiring manager asks their coworker about you and they reply “who?” It is better to contact that person directly and let them know you are applying for the job they posted and ask if they can put in a good word for you.

Cover Letters and Resumes

  • KISS- keep it simple stupid. Your resume should not have swirly whirly graphics and four different fonts. Keep it very direct and readable.
  • Objectives are stupid, do not write them on your resume.
  • Keep your resume to one page, two max. You do not have to list every job and every club you’ve ever participated in, change your resume for each job or each type of job to directly reflect the experience that would be most useful for the position you are applying for.
  • This is picky, but try to avoid bullet points that all start with “I.” You don’t actually have to say “I,” it’s better to write: Answered fan mail, organized the Director’s schedule, updated the calendar.
  • Write a tailored cover letter for each job. You cover letter should express exactly why you are interested in THAT job at THAT organization. It should not be your resume in narrative form. Do not write that you are the perfect candidate for the position. You are most certainly not, and the perfect candidate would never say that.
  • Please read the Ask A Manager blog. She goes into incredibly more detail about the whole job searching process than I have space for here and is a phenomenal resource. I was job searching for 10 months about 2 years ago and following her advice I applied to 100 jobs, received 10 interviews, and landed an incredibly awesome job in a very competitive field.

The Interview

  • Be on time, not even early. You should wait in your car or walk around the block a couple of times. I used to assume all businesses have a lobby with chairs that you can wait in, but I have been finding out (especially in NYC) that it is not guaranteed that they will, so it really is better to just be there, ready to go, at your appointment time.
  • Do your research. Know what the company does and anything else important about it. It is not impressive to ask a question about something where the answer is prominently featured on their website. Say, for example, interviewing at a museum, you should know what kind of collection they have, what exhibitions are upcoming, and form some kind of opinion in which you are very excited to work for that institution because of those particular things.
  • Practice answering common interview questions, which you can find online. The idea is not to memorize answers, but have some examples and anecdotes ready to go.

The Follow Up

  • Always send some kind of follow up email. This is not a thank you note, per se, but you should thank the interviewer for their time and reiterate in a few words how the interview has given you even more of a sense about the job and confirmed your desire to work there in that position. You can read more about that in our previous post here.
  • Again, do not hassle HR or the hiring manager. They aren’t going to forget that you are a candidate for the position, and different companies have different timelines for hiring. If they’ve told you they will be letting you know in two weeks and it’s been three, you can send a follow up email asking if they’ve come to a decision. But honestly, if they really like you and want to give you the job, they will let you know.

 

Yes, You Can Turn Down A Job Interview

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Work for more than bananas [Via philcampbell]

Work for more than bananas [Via philcampbell]

I know what you’re thinking. We’re still in a recession or something, right? Why on earth would you turn down a job interview? But the truth is, people are liars, and sometimes jobs are not what they seem. Maybe you thought you were applying for one type of position, and after a phone interview discovered it was something completely different. Maybe it’s something you like but too far away/crappy benefits/something else legitimate. Whatever the reason, sometimes you need to take yourself out of the running.

Firstly, you need to figure out whether you actually want to cancel, and there are different schools of thought. Ask A Manager says if you’re 100% sure you don’t want the job (and let’s assume this is after a phone interview or something where you know they’re interested and you’ve gotten more information than whatever the initial job posting says), you shouldn’t take the interview, as you’re taking an interview slot away from someone who may really want it, and wasting both your and the interviewer’s time. However, Forbes says you should still go, because it may be an opportunity for networking or just practicing your interview skills, or the job may surprise you. We can’t make that decision for you.

If you do decide to cancel, first, be prompt. As soon as you know it’s not right for you, say something. It’s just a lot nicer than calling an hour before your interview and saying “you know what? Sorry.” And if possible, do this over the phone, though honestly most correspondence is done over email these days. Finally, be honest about your reasons, though you don’t have to go into a lot of detail. Sometimes the reasons are concrete (you’re moving far away), and sometimes they’re not (you just don’t think it’s a good fit).

You can say so about either of these things. If it’s more on the side of “it’s just not what I’m looking for,” use your email/phone call as an opportunity to educate them as to why. Once, I interviewed for a job that would pay a lot, but it was “freelance” pay so I would have had to pay all the taxes, and there was no health insurance or paid vacation/sick time. I tried to negotiate on this to no avail. Once I decided that I wanted to cancel our schedule in-person interview, I emailed them, thanking them for the opportunity, but that “upon further review of the position and compensation” it wasn’t the right fit for me. Hopefully they were able to pick up on the fact that you’d need to pay someone a hell of a lot more than what they were offering if there was no health insurance.

Have you ever turned down an interview? Did you ever go to an interview only to find the office/person/job to be absolutely ridiculous? Tell us!