Application Forms

Answer very few people actually ask for a CV everyone seems to have their own application forms and like CVs application forms have changed.

Back when I applied for my
first job the application form was 3 pages long name, address, education, work experience and references simple eh ?

Not anymore I found a job online which sounded great so I went and downloaded the application form it was 12 pages long !!!! 2 pages were dedicated to my ethnic background and my sexual preference (thank you discrimination laws) but that still left 10 pages. They wanted everything but my inside leg measurement, several pages where dedicated to how I met the person specification (which was 9 pages long) my mum was here said she would look at it with me between us we have 3 degrees and it still took me 2 days to complete and after all that I didn't even get an interview !! At lot of the stuff the form asked for would have usually been asked at the interview stage of the application process.

So why have application forms become so complicated ? Several of my friends and I have come up with some suggestions:

1. To make the vetting process for interview easier
   
2. To put people off applying who don't really want the job (?)
   
3. Because it's an employer's market they can be as picky and as fussy and demand as much information as they want and make you jump through hoops !!
   
4. People don't actually look through application forms they just feed them into a computer that looks for keywords (not those again) and tells the company whether your worth interviewing
   

Whatever the reason the world of job applications has changed and possibly not for the better so I will have to compile a list of keywords and included them in any application form I complete and jump through as many hoops as poetical employers want in order to achieve that oh so necessary job !!

CV's

Now for the hard part !!

When did CV's become so complicated ?? Gone are the days of putting Curriculum Vitae at the top, followed by name, address etc and your date of birth (which you can no longer do due to age discrimination laws) and listing every place of employment, every school you have ever attended and every qualification you have and of course references.

Now it has to start with your name where Curriculum Vitae used to be followed by contact details, it can’t be more than 2 pages long which means you leave off half or more of your information. For example I was told recently not to list my secondary school education just my degree and my A levels as I wouldn’t have been accepted onto these courses without gaining the necessary GCSE’s, which makes sense but goes against everything I was taught in school about writing a CV. 

CV’s also have to have key words in them (confused so was I) I spoke to a colleague who deals with CV’s and she pointed me in the right direction, when talking about your duties at a former employers to use words such as responsible, managing, focused, decisive, versatile and resourceful ! How I am supposed to know these things ? I have been  to a Government Agency that's supposed to help me with writing my CV several times and not once did they mention having keywords in my CV.

So after many many rewrites with several people looking it over my CV it is update and ready to distribute to prospective employers, but how many employers actually ask for a CV these days ??