Dear Candidate,
Thank you for your interest in the recently advertised job vacancy. We have been inundated with impressive candidates; however unfortunately we will not be pursuing your submission any further.
It’s about your application. You know, the one you clearly circulated to several companies of indiscriminate nature, if the very ordinary, impersonal and grammatically inaccurate form letter we received is any indication.
Believe me; I genuinely do appreciate how competitive the current job market is at present. Perhaps more aggressive and demoralising than ever before. Call me crazy and old fashioned, but surely this would indicate a greater need to ensure the accuracy of your application and a customised approach to your response? Or perhaps the fatigue of creating that mail merged form letter has taken its toll and you simply can’t be bothered with the formalities anymore?
Now I’m no recruitment expert, but in the spirit of goodwill, I thought you could do with a few small pointers to help you with your next job application. These are on the house.
- The cover letter. Where was it? Cover letters are not an antiquated and obsolete nicety – they are an illustration of your respect for the recruitment process, not to mention an opportunity to articulate your case for your suitability for the role, which the poorly formatted multi-coloured text on your resume unfortunately did not.
- ‘To whom it may concern’ is not my actual name. In fact, my name, title and even a photo are all available to view on our company website if you had cared to take a look prior to submitting your application. Nor is my name coincidentally the same as my counterpart at our major market competitor. But you do receive points for at least demonstrating a general understanding of the local PR industry. Which leads me to my next tip:
- We are a PR agency, not Australia’s leading department store; so your comprehensive list of retail achievements, while impressive, is not exactly relevant to the very clear selection criteria published within the job advertisement.
- Now I know that as PR practitioners, mathematics is often not our strongest attribute. However, while I’m not a student of arithmetic, I’m pretty certain the ‘five years relevant industry experience’ listed as a minimum requirement does not equate to a three month internship, nor one week work experience, nor a ‘general interest in public relations that you’ve always been interested in pursuing’, despite your complete lack of exposure to the sector. But thanks anyway.
One final note: public relations, while a relatively new discipline in this country, is not in fact simply the art of ‘relating to the public’ and while your experience in customer service at the local car wash may have honed this skill, we were kind of looking for someone degree-qualified in the profession.
Thanks for your application. But you may want to consider removing me from your next mail merge database.
