Those First Lines...

... best not make them blurred. Your first contact with a company or a recruitment agent will often be through email, either to apply for a job or enquire about vacancies. Remember, even if you're not applying for a role in your first email - you will still create those vital (and hard to shift) first impressions from this very first contact. So, assuming you've already created a nice professional looking email address, let's look at some examples of emails I have received. Imagine YOU are a recruiter and see what you make of them... (remember these are the complete emails - all the words I received are there - no bits missing...)

"got ne jobs"

".........." (with a CV attached and no subject line)

"Dear Mr Susan* do you have any jobs available in your company? thanks"

"hi, looking for jobs in south area, cheers xoxoxo"

"applying for job"

"is job aval?"

"I want job wokring 2pm-4pm mon tues wed and sat only, not office thanks"

So what did you think? I would love to say these are not typical examples of the daily communications we receive  - but they very much are. I won't say they were disregarded purely on the basis of these emails, but the first impressions formed because of these was not hugely positive. My issue is not literacy (or difficulties with it), because the odd typo (although distracting) is not indicative of a lack of trying. The emails above however, scream 'lazy' to a prospective employer. These people couldn't even take the time to write full sentences, or even find a name to address the email to. Some don't even bother writing ANYTHING in the email body and just attach a CV, and with my psychic powers somehow I am expected to know which job they are applying for.

The final example above is an issue because recruiters are not a bespoke job creation service. Chances are they will not have any jobs like this and it would better to start off a conversation with them indicating you are looking for a flexible role and that you are willing to compromise etc to enable a dialogue which might actually get you somewhere. Treating recruiters like a build-a-job service will stop you in your tracks if you don't appear to be willing to discuss it (even if you actually aren't able to budge at the moment).

Also, informal additions such as kisses and hugs should really be avoided, "many thanks" "kind regards" "sincerely" are all sufficient.

Just take a little bit of time to find out the name of the person you are emailing and get the title right. It's always helpful to pop the job title in the subject line as well. Then take a few minutes just to say which job you are applying for/want to know more about and then sign off in a polite manner - double check words are spelt correctly and don't use slang. Simple as that, it only takes a few minutes to ensure your first contact with someone is respectful, polite and professional :)

*not actual name

Check Your Email...

...Not your messages (although that does help when job hunting), but check your email address. Make sure you're not using the hotmail acccount you set up during your GCSE year and thought was hilarious at the time. For example, when emailing your application, you may not be aware but most often your email address and/or the username will be the first thing a prospective employer will see. Therefore 'sexybexy' or 'leahluvsryan' or even 'takethatfan' do seem to give off connotations of a lack of maturity or professionalism. These thoughts are of course largely unfounded - but we're talking first impressions, these are hard to shift, very memorable and often based on stereotypical evidence. An employer may view an email address containing slang or 'txt' speak as an indication of poor literacy, or a bad attitude. This view is of course unfair, but it's often an unavoidable reflex response, that our brains employ to make life less complicated. We often make split second judgements based on almost no real tangible facts. Treat your email address like an interview outfit - it needs to look smart and clean. So, set up a new email address just for jobs to make things easier. Base the address on your actual name and keep 'djmatt_spangdooly' for play time.

Tweak Me

Welcome to The 'Me' Tweaker! This little blog will contain little posts with little tips that might* make big changes to your job application success. I work in the staffing industry and know more than a bit about psychology - particularly those first impressions. These posts will offer ways to help you avoid those first sift hurdles and hopefully get someone to look at your CV**.

Of course I'm not suggesting anyone attempt to 'blag' a job  or indeed be deceitful or fraudulent - that implies you've been given a role that you are not suited to or have gone about applying in an underhand way. Both of which are disastrous. The title implies ways of helping your application get through that notorious first sift, in which applications can be rejected on the basis of almost anything from type face (not strictly legally of course) or the inclusion of/lack of/too long/too short 'about me' section. All employers have different preferences and it is not going to be possible for you to rally a one application fits all tactic, but there are definitely some ways to ensure you don't fall foul of everyone.

You might think you've read all the job tips and tricks and yes there are a lot of jolly good sites out there to help polish that CV - BUT they might fail to mention some of those pesky little things that could make all the difference***.


Most importantly, when job hunting don't get disheartened by a consistent lack of response or rejection. Most companies are totally overwhelmed by hundreds of applications and simply do not have the time to notify unsuccessful applicants. The best mentality to adopt is one of disowning your application when you hit 'send' and then moving on to the next.

Best of Luck!

*no guarantees whatsoever.
**dependent on the person doing the sifting
***as long as it's not only the little things you're focussing on.