Monday 1 June 2009

mADness

I am losing all patience and rationality when it comes to job adverts. Can they not just get to the point? Here’s the problem. I’m a journalist - I’m used to skim reading to the fourth line of a press release and knowing if a story is contained within. Actually, I rarely have the self-discipline to read to the bottom of anything, which just adds to the frustration and anger that befalls me on reading a page of job ads. I will illustrate my displeasure using a recent example:

An ad for an editorial assistant role catches my eye. I can instantly see that the pay is good and the subject matter is interesting so I read on. Editing experience – tick, liasing with contributors – tick, working on journals – tick. I’m getting a flutter of excitement butterflies and start mentally drafting my covering letter when - bam! At the very end of the third paragraph, more than half way down the ad reads the line: “Knowledge of classical Arabic is essential.” Seriously, you didn’t think that could have appeared a tiny, weenie bit higher up?

And while we’re at it, here’s a crazy thought. Why not think out of the box a little and say what the job actually is? It would sure save us poor potential candidates a lot of time and energy finding out we didn’t want to work for you in the first place.

Take Foxton’s, for instance. A prime example of a job ad that tells you positively nothing, except that you get to parade around the city in a mini cooper – oh and that maybe it has something to do with surfing or extreme sports?

Perhaps they do it because the job itself is so utterly soul destroying that they’d rather you figure that out once you’re contracted into a three-month notice period.

Anyway, my point is please can job ads be a maximum of twenty words and include any middle-eastern language requirements in the first line. Thanks.

Rant over.

1 comment:

  1. Great blog..I was thinking of starting my own entitled the "unemployed blues" - I use to sing jazz so it might be appropriate! I use to work in the City but, oh dear, my employer was Lloyds...hence now being out of work for five months; even said quickly it "hurts"!! I've applied for over 120 jobs so far (had one meagre interview) and for someone who use to be head-hunted, I can tell you that even if your CV is the dogs-bollocks, if you don't speak fluent swahili, type 90 wpm, have a reliable job history (same job since birth), and are studying to be a quantum phsycist in your spare time, you won't get a second glance. I'm almost at the point of giving up, except that my artwork has re-emerged and my novel-in-the-pipeline is bulging forth nicely. The ONLY good things about being out of work!! Time to think - radical change!

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