HR Advice: The ONE Mistake That Makes Your CV Hit the Trash Even Before It’s Read

By Dorcas Karuana,
Every now and then, jobseekers are always advised to stand out from the crowd. Well you have seen job advertisement and find that you are good match of the required qualifications.

Of course the first thing is to customize CV and cover letter and as you send it, you have high hopes that you are an ideal candidate.

But before you hit the send button, put yourself in the shoes of the HR Manager receiving your application and ask if you are really convinced and compelled to open the application or will you just trash it.

Yes you heard me right. Some job applications never get read. Why?

Not following instructions on the job description. First, the description of the job will outline the roles, what it pays and how to apply. But the HR Manager may deliberately put some instructions on the job description that are meant to discriminate you in short listing.

Mr Justin Kwendo of Job Connections illustrates that for instance, it may be put clear that: “We will not accept any applications with attachments {any information must be contained within the body of the email}

Or apply while quoting your salary on the body of cover letter, or apply with the subject of your email as “Accounts Assistant –Salary 50K etc.”

Further, the job description may state that, we will only contact candidates who qualify for the position. Meaning there are no resources to respond to every application we receive and please don’t contact us with questions about if the position was filled or more info.

But Mr Kwendo reckons that, “people are in so much of a rush they don’t fully read what’s in front of them.”

From a pool of applications received by all HR Managers it is quite clear that, “in their haste to apply people completely miss the most important points mentioned in the job description,” he explains.

Would you hire someone to work from you where paying attention to detail is a key component and in their application they failed to follow simple instructions?

Mr. Kwendo advises that, “always pay attention to all the details before you commit or respond to something.” Sometimes it’s good to re-read the entire thing a couple times before taking action. This way you won’t make silly mistakes that would hurt your chances at getting hired.

Don’t get caught-up in the excitement.