Posted By Malcolm Hogarth Thank you to all those who replied to the original posting for this position. A number of you were far too well qualified for the role or your experiences did not match our requirements. Do not despair though and keep plugging away. A general point for all you jobseekers out there - this was an interesting experience in that I have been involved in helping recruit my successor and was asked to vet the CV's as they came in. I have to say that I was extremely disappointed at the quality of some of the CV's, particularly as they came from educated people with lots of letters after their names! The vast majority were just poor; the main errors being spelling mistakes, poor layout and irrelevant information. My advice to all would be jobhunters is to look at the information from recruiters in SHP magazine and do some basic research on job hunting and CV writing. I did not even look at two of the CV's I was sent because they started off so appalling (It could be that these might have been the best candidates but they missed out.)You may well be the best person for the job but a poor CV will not even get you to the next stage. If you really must put CURRICULUM VITAE at the top of your CV you might at least make the effort to spell it correctly.

Posted By ID Dave To be honest most job adverts are written in such an ambiguous manner and with such scant detail that applicants sometimes apply even if they are not suitable. Note to potential employers: BE CLEAR on what you want and what you offer!

Posted By Frank Hallett Asking for, and sending, CVs is always a potential disaster for all parties. Malcolm and Dave make excellent and valuable points; but so does ID. The real, underlying issue is that there is no standard form or format for CVs, and guidance on the preferred format etc is rarely, if ever, provided by the recruiter; so the person writing will generally reproduce the last format that was successful without having any indication at all that the latest reader will be looking for a different format, layout, presentation of information etc. Malcolm, you're absolutely right in your point that you should be able to expect a [personally set, subjective] level of spelling, grammar etc [I shall "spell-check" this!]; likewise, the information should be provided in an orderly and clear layout. However, whilst it's obviously the reviewers decision, to apparently discard otherwise promising candidates for presenting a layout that isn't similar enough to your preferred model shouldn't arise. I personally prefer the recruiter to provide their standard CV format into which the candidate must enter the relevant information - that way, the recruiter gets the info that they're seeking as to whether the candidate meets their definition of suitable for the proposed post with the minimum of misunderstanding and maximum clarity and it also enable the candidate to better define their suitability. Having said that, I've also been on the receiving end of some really aweful pro-formas that ask irrelevant, and often personally intrusive, questions. Needless to say, they go straight through my shredder! Frank Hallett

Posted By Frank Hallett Very pertinant points well made AIB. We aren't actually that far apart on this really. I didn't say I like the pro-forma as such, simply that I prefer it as it should clarify the format and information that the recruiter is looking for. I'm a professional and should therefore be able to present the info that I want the recruiter to see unless their pro-forma excludes that ability. I then work on the basis of "their loss for failing to provide a sufficiently well designed form". Of course, whilst it is normally denied; I've also come across many vacancy adverts, and application pro-formas, that give the overwhelming fimpression that they've been written to ensure that the preferred internal candidate is on the "short list". Malcolm & Dave - I'm not accussing you of any of this; it's been a progression from the original post. Perhaps this should now move to the open "chat" forum? Frank Hallett

Posted By Frank Hallett Well noticed Malcolm! Credibility reduced even further. Note to self - Always double check the complete item for mis-spelling!! Frank Hallett