TIPS ON SCREENING JOB APPLICATIONS

With e-mail facilities today, employers frequently receive resumes that come either as an attachment or sometimes the resume will be in the e-mail itself from the applicants. Pouring through the large number of resumes may be quite laborious work. As for me, I will normally "filter" or "screen" the applications sent by e-mail using the following indicators:-
(i) Whether the e-mail was directed to me as an employer or was the e-mail directed to a number of other employers as well?
If the e-mail was directed to a number of other employers, you will be certain that I will not be calling the person for an interview. It doesn’t fare well for the applicant as employers will find this quite rude. Applying for a job is something quite confidential and to be treated seriously, an employee should take the time to send his or her application separately to the individual employer. Some applicants may call it saving time and multi-tasking but I will simply call it pure laziness!
(ii) Whether there is any covering letter accompanying the resume sent by e-mail?
To me, it doesn’t matter if the letter comes separately or in the e-mail itself. What is important is that there should be a covering letter. A good covering letter should have the full name of the prospective employer and the contact details (if known). As an employer, this will indicate to me that the prospective employee is courteous and has taken the application seriously. Sometimes, I do get a covering letter applying for a job in the e-mail saying "Hi there" or worse "Hey there" as the covering letter. It amuses me to see such a covering letter. It makes one wonder, how can the employer treat such an applicant seriously? I must say, so far all of the candidates who have written nice covering letters and were interviewed by me have left a positive impression on me.
Story: The radiographer that came knocking
A few years ago, we were looking for a clerk to assist in administrative work. We advertised the position online in the internet. At that time, we didn’t realise that there was a long stretch of public holidays when the online advertisement came out. To advertise during that period was not a good idea as most people were away and might not be checking the postings. So, we decided to put out another advertisement. This time, for some reason, instead of advertising the position of a "Clerk", we wrote "Administrative Assistant". Both positions came with the same duties and salary. Only the name of the position was different.
Amongst the applications that came in was an e-mail from an ex-radiographer together with an attached resume. The covering letter was well written. It contained our firm’s name, address and name of the contact person. It also explained why she decided to leave her job as a radiographer and apply for the job of Administrative Assistant. By reading the resume and the covering letter, one could feel that the applicant was responsible, sincere and had initiative. The applicant’s resume and covering letter certainly warranted an interview with us. However, what impressed me most was that the applicant made reference to the 2 postings we had online. The applicant mentioned that she noted there were 2 postings online from our firm and that she wished to apply for either one of them as both came with similar duties (actually, exactly the same!). To me, it showed the applicant was observant, rational and independent thinking. Some applicants didn’t even realise that we had 2 similar postings online. We received 2 identical resumes from the same applicant in our inbox. It became even more remarkable when the e-mail came in with just the subject changed from "Clerk" to "Administrative Assistant" and without any covering letter. Well, back to the story of the radiographer, she did come for an interview and she got the job. Way to go, Madeleine!
When screening job applications or resumes, I tend to look at the number of years a person has spent in his or her previous employment. For me, if the person spent less than 2 years in his or her previous job, I will make a note of that. If the applicant is invited to attend an interview, I will pose a question to the applicant to gather more information as to the reason for the short duration of his or her last employment.
However, we have to be careful not to jump to any conclusions just because a person has spent less than 2 years in his or her previous employment. I have a former classmate who worked for a company for 14 years before he decided to leave to "explore other opportunities in the world". The second job was with a well known accounting firm, where he worked for hardly a month after which he had to resign. Well, in his case, he had a valid reason as his mother was taken seriously ill and being the only child and unmarried as well, he had to take time off to look after his mother. When his mother finally recovered after close to a year from his resignation, he anxiously looked for a job. It was understandable as a lot of his savings had been used to pay for his mother’s medical bills. He had a difficult time securing an interview for a number of reasons but perhaps the obvious one was that he had been unemployed or jobless for close to a year. He was reluctant to list the well known accounting firm as his last employer for fear his prospective employers might think that he was fired from his last job given the short duration that he was there. He came to seek an opinion from me on his resume. I suggested to him to include the well known accounting firm in his resume despite him being there for only one month and to include a short written explanation as to why he had to leave the firm’s employ as most prospective employers would want to know. The prospective employers would then be aware that he wasn’t sacked but instead had to leave to undertake a bigger responsibility.
Story: An applicant with a colourful job history
I had an applicant once who listed his previous jobs as a waiter, a cook, a bus driver, a temporary teacher, a clerk and subsequently, an administrative officer. Normally, I would put the resume and application aside if I see any evidence that the person lacks focus. However, in this case, my curiosity got the better of me and I just had to invite this applicant for an interview. During the interview, I was quite impressed with the applicant. He had a charming smile and an answer to every question asked. This could be due to his employment background - being exposed to various types of jobs from one end of the spectrum to the other. I must say he could handle people rather well. However, one thing I could safely conclude from the interview was that the applicant was not suitable for a desk job as he liked to move around and talk to people. I was being honest and I told him just that. I even hinted to him that he would make an excellent sales person. He was quite excited when I told him about his strength which unfortunately did not fit in with our organization. He left feeling happy and I am sure it won’t be long before he adds sales executive as one his jobs in his next resume!

USEFUL TIPS ON JOB ADVERTISEMENT

What should I put in the advertisement? For starters, how about inserting the job description and the job requirements?

(i) Job description
It is vital that you state as clearly as possible what the job is all about. If the position is for an accounts clerk, then state that position. If the position is for a general worker (something which we don’t see much of nowadays in the advertisements) then you might want to give a little more detail as to what the job entails, otherwise you will get a whole load of job applications where most of the applications will be irrelevant to your requirements.

Story: The "over applied" position of Administrative Assistant
Some years ago, my firm was looking for an Administrative Assistant. Being prudent with our spending, we decided to post the advertisement online through the internet. We placed a general ad stating "Firm requires an Administrative Assistant, 5 days week and very near to public transportation". Over a period of 3 days, my inbox was filled with hundreds of resumes, some with photographs. I had all kinds of applicants applying for the job. Some had really colourful backgrounds including a masseuse who used to work at a spa!

To avoid the same mistake, you will need to put in some sort of a "filtering system" where only relevant applicants will apply. This is where stating the job requirements come in.

(ii) Job requirements
To narrow or to filter the applicants, be clear with your job requirements. If it is an accounting job and the person is expected to have some knowledge of computer accounting software, then say that in your requirements. This will not only reduce the number of applicants but also encourage the "qualified" ones to apply. Worrying about no one applying for the job should never be the challenge. The challenge is getting the right person for the right job. Fewer applications mean fewer decisions to make. That should work in your favour.

Story: Looking for a Conveyancing Clerk
Recently, our firm was looking to engage a Conveyancing Clerk on a fixed term contract. As usual, we put out the advertisement online through the internet. For 1 week, we received very poor response, to put it bluntly, we got none! This was probably due to the fact that we stated in no uncertain terms that we were looking for a Conveyancing Clerk on a fixed term contract. We also went on to state that the fixed term contract was for 6 to 12 months. Due to poor response, we were contemplating whether we should put out another advertisement without stating that it was for a fixed term contract to encourage more applicants. After all, we could always tell the applicants that we intended to put them on a fixed term contract at the interview. After contemplating this for a while, we decided to stick with the original advertisement as it would not be fair to the applicants and furthermore we did not wish to mislead anyone. We held on to our guns and persevered. Finally we managed to get a positive response. Well, it turned out to be someone that fit into our requirements. All in all, we received only 2 applicants, so that wasn’t a difficult decision to make!

It is always quite amusing to see words such as "must be hardworking, trustworthy and diligent", etc in the job requirements printed in advertisements. Well, let me say this, no applicants will admit or say that they are lazy, dishonest and frequently make mistakes when applying for a job! I am of the view that such words ought to be left out in the advertisement. Furthermore, an employer’s right of action against the employee is based on the Contract of Employment and not on what the employee claims to be, in other words "hardworking, trustworthy and diligent", etc. That is why we have a probation period to assess the new employee. Some may argue that using words such as "must be hardworking, trustworthy and diligent", etc are an effective "filtering system" but I beg to differ as "the proof of the pudding is in the eating", nothing more and nothing less.

If there is need to state certain good work habits expected of the new employee then state them. For example, you can state the person "must be able to work independently". In other words, the person is expected to be able to work with minimal supervision and it also implies the person must be highly responsible. You can also state that the person "must be able to speak and communicate with customers confidently and be proficient in at least English and Bahasa Malaysia". In other words, the person must be verbally proficient in the required 2 languages and must be confident. This will rule out timid and shy applicants. If you are looking for new employees with certain work habits, state them clearly and make sure they understand what you are looking for.

(iii) Salary
Sometimes when advertising for a job, the employers will state the salary range for that job. That is not a bad idea as it is another form of "filtering out" the applicants. The applicant can decide for himself or herself whether he or she wants to apply for that position given the salary. If you intend to insert the salary range make sure you stick to it! Don’t be overly generous by giving beyond what you have offered or be stingy by going below. A good employee can always be rewarded later with bonuses or an increase in his or her salary. On the other hand, if you think that you have a potentially good candidate but who does not quite meet your present requirements, you may want to offer a slightly lower salary during the probation period but make sure that upon confirmation, the salary is increased to the salary as stated in the advertisement.

Some employers do not have any idea of what salary range to offer. Yes, there are employers like that and I used to be one of them! Again, due to the lack of "filtering system", I received many applications. Those who came for the interview (we will deal with interviewing techniques later) were asking for very high salaries.

Story: The expensive young applicant
In the year 2000, I had a young girl of 22 years who came for an interview for the position of an Administrative Assistant asking for a salary of RM4,000.00 a month. In her application form, she gave her last drawn salary as RM3,500.00. By talking to her and assessing her, she didn’t look like the go getter type and didn’t appear to understand what the job required. I would say that the applicant was quite inexperienced and trying to represent herself to be someone who possessed skills that obviously she did not have at that time. When I asked for her last drawn salary slip, she was hesitant and there was a long pause from her. She then asked for a very much lower salary but that was enough for me to assess her and decide that she was not a good candidate.

Sometimes employers prefer not to include the salary range as they are more concerned about finding a good employee. In other words, they do not want to restrict their options with respect to the applicants.

Story: Junior secretary v Secretary
Many years ago, when I first started my firm, I was looking for a secretary. I didn’t know then that there was a difference between a junior secretary and a secretary. A secretary, normally an experienced person, commands a far higher salary than a junior secretary. A junior secretary could have anywhere from zero to 2 years of working experience. In those days, the internet wasn’t very popular, so I advertised in the print media. I received a number of telephone calls requesting for interviews. All of the people who applied appeared to be people with substantial experience. The years of experience were clearly stated in the applications and so were the expected salaries and the last drawn salaries. I found all of them to be of good calibre but the salaries were something that I did not budget for. One of the applicants who stood out was a lady who called in regarding the position. She was very professional in her approach and spoke impeccable English. I invited her to come to our office for an interview but she was reluctant. She replied it would be better if she faxed in her resume to let us have a look before we called her in for an interview. I was impressed but puzzled as all of the applicants jumped at the chance when offered an interview. Anyway, a few minutes after our telephone conversation, the resume came in by facsimile (e-mail wasn’t popular then). By perusing her resume, it became obvious that she was very experienced and at that time was working as a secretary to a well known Executive Chairman in a large company. She didn’t state her expected salary but looking at her salary at that time, she was getting more in a month than what I was getting! Perhaps not trying to put us in a awkward situation or maybe she didn’t want to waste anyone’s time, she thought it would be a good idea if we had a look at her resume first, and what a good idea it was!