Over the past few weeks, we have been gearing up to hire new staff members to join our team. Just last Friday, we put out 2 job advertisements out on JobsDB in Hong Kong and before the week is over, we last counted about 88 applications. I suspect that by this weekend, we’ll have well over 100 applications to look at. 

Top 10 problems most (99%) of the applications have:

1.    Did not follow instructions given in the job advertisement.

2.    Did not send cover-letter.

3.    For those who sent a cover-letter together with their resume, the cover-letter and resume are one-size-fits-all. Some even contain another company name which they previously applied to. Much to my amusement, there was even one applicant who simply forwarded the email, along with his resume, he sent to another company to us!

4.    Did not bother to research the company.

5.    No effort was spent understanding the company needs.

6.    No effort to demonstrate that they possess the job requirements.

7.    Resume poorly formatted (i.e. does not provide easy reading).

8.    Achievements from previous experiences not evident in the resume.

9.    Self-focused instead of job and company-focused.

10.  Poor use of English. Very poor for some. And yet, they say in their resume – Fluent in written and spoken English.

Looking from the employer’s perspective, recruitment is a highly time-consuming business activity. Executives are already hard-pressed for time to handle their own daily work. Going through 100 resumes (or more) to shortlist candidates and then sparing time to interview the shortlist is certainly not something that is high on the priority list.

Hence, it is absolutely vital that, if you want the job, you do yourself a big favour by making reading your cover-letter and resume an easy task!

With this in mind, job (internship and permanent jobs alike) applicants must remember these points when crafting your application:

1.     Hiring managers are extremely busy. They are highly unlikely to give much time to YOUR resume. Expect between 5 to 15 seconds maximum. So, how do you stand out??

2.     Your resume is your personal brochure – make sure that it sells and promotes you as the best candidate for the job!! If you are going to send out a boring, general resume, you are better off not sending it at all. It wastes your time as well as the employer’s.

3.     Ensure that your resume is only 2 pages long MAXIMUM. Nothing more! Nobody likes to read long, boring documents.

4.     MAKE SURE you send a cover-letter other than your resume. As a professional, a cover-letter is a MUST! It allows you to sell your services specifically and demonstrates your writing style.

5.     Whatever you put on the resume and cover-letter, make sure they are highly relevant to that company and that job.

6.     Do all you can to help the hiring manager understand why and how you fit the job and the company.

7.     Your resume must show your previous job experiences and achievements. Experience alone says nothing!

8.     Always send PDF versions instead of WORD versions.

9.     If you are emailing your application, make sure your cover-letter is in the email content itself with your resume attached.

10.   There are tonnes of resume and cover-letter writing books and materials out there in the bookshops and the Internet. However, not all advice are good. Be very selective of the advice you follow. Just think of this: If everyone follows what those books teaches, will their application still stand out?

Remember that your cover-letter and resume can’t get you the job. They are tools to get you an interview. Make sure you use them prudently.