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September 28th 2009 07:49
Dear Canddiate,
Thank you for your recent application for this role. The advertisement
directed candidates to apply on our website (which you
did not) and as a result your application was not received and reviewed
as part of the recruitment process. This role has been filled and the
recruitment process has now been finalised.
If you are interested in registering your interest in a role with us, please go to the website.
I just received the above reply for a job application that I did this week. It was really saying Canddiate instead of Candidate. And I thought it so funny I answered with the following e-mail:
Dear Sirs,
This is the funniest reply I have ever gotten for an application for a Job.
It is saying basically: thank you for your application that we received but we didn't and you missed out.
At least it beats the "your application was unsuccessful" by far!
It is much worse but what can I do now?
I feel like a naughty kid and the teacher is saying: you have to read the questions before you answer them!!! In a very loud voice, too.
You are actually right, your advertisement probably said we should apply on your website, but after applying for 234,564 jobs you don't see the writing anymore, you just see the big pink "apply" button.
Being like a robot, you expect that something that has a button for application means you are actually doing it: sending your information to the right person.
I have applied to other roles and when they expected the candidate to go to their website either the apply button didn't work or sent them directly to the right place.
I guess it was kind of a test for you, hum? And I failed totally. You probably did it on purpose expecting a person that reads it all, very thoroughly.
But the funny thing is the company taking the time to reprimand the candidates that didn't do it!
It is so good I will put it on my blog.
Don't worry, I won't reveal any names or companies, just tell the history and remind all other people like me, looking for a job in time of crisis, that we have to read things with more attention.
Have a great week!
September 18th 2009 03:49
Do the unexpected. At the very least you will ride some pretty fancy lifts. I’ve been going to the recruitment agencies and I have good news: some of them really have people there.
The next morning from my last post I got to create some new crazy strategies, I got to think that letters with ridiculous sayings were not enough. Maybe I should do something in person, like enter the agencies singing (even though I cannot sing), the traditional wearing a watermelon around my neck or my favourite dream obsession: running naked in the middle of George Street, in this case with a body paint saying: hire me!
But by the end of the day I simply did what people seem not to be doing: visit the recruitment agencies. I realised that because mostly they don’t accept any walk-ins anymore, candidates simply stopped doing this walking around trying to talk to a consultant.
For me, the last two days have been amazing, I managed to shake hands with recruiters that actually have an open position that interests me and be interviewed by some nice people that didn’t have the job now but may have it soon. I also got a bunch of business cards; at least they give me a name to put on top of my e-mails with my resumes.
Of course I found some empty offices, got to the position of being inside a lift that doesn’t accept when you press the button. It is such an embarrassing feeling! You go inside a building, confidently go to the lift, the door closes, you press the button, it doesn’t lit, you do it again, and just one more time to be sure. Nothing happens, you press the button to open the door and leaves hoping no-one saw you.
The adventure is to ride all kinds of lifts though. I loved the one that didn’t have any buttons inside. You pressed the level you wanted to be taken in a panel outside in the hall and the panel would tell you which lift would take you there, you then ride the lift to your floor alone. Very fancy!
The best until now was that one of the companies I visited was great, the receptionist was warm and saw me as an actual person, not only a candidate, an unfortunate looking for work in times of crisis, or an annoying walk-in that doesn’t know people don’t do that anymore. She really talked to me, printed my recent resume and said a consultant would see me.
It was that then Magic happened. The consultant looked at my resume and her eyes started shining. She said it was amazing that I had walked in on her with an exact resume that would match a position she was just receiving. When she told me about it my eyes got to shine also.
I am now waiting to see how it goes but it already gave me hope and a warm feeling inside...
September 15th 2009 09:59
Do you think there is actually someone working inside those beautiful offices in the centre of Sydney, the ones with glass doors on the top floors in the city? Other than the receptionist and the IT person that configures the automatic e-mails saying things like:
“After careful consideration, we regret to advise that your application was not successful on this occasion”
I have been trying to get through, to see the inside of one of these employment agencies.
Do you know with every fibre of your being that you are brilliant at work? I do. Why? Because I care. That is the one thing that is different from good workers from the bad ones. The good try to understand the consequences of each of their actions. As simple as that.
I feel like sending cover letters with ridiculous phrases like:
I LOVE YOUR MOM...
READ MY RESUME TO FIND OUT HOW TO BE YOUNG FOREVER...
IF YOU INTERVIEW ME YOU WILL NEVER WANT ANOTHER PIECE OF CHOCOLATE...
FIND OUT HOW TO GET THIN, FIT AND SEXY LIKE BRAD & ANGIE...
HOW TO GET RICH: INSTRUCTIONS INSIDE...
Or the priceless: I LOVE YOUR BUM!!!
I don’t know, just anything that would make them pay attention to me.
I have been trying different strategies: applying by e-mail or through the employment websites. Sending a portfolio with my e-mail and not. Different types of cover letters, from formal to informal, to inspirational, to barely sane. I e-mailed all the agencies, then I am calling them, one by one. Then I call the people in the job ads and today I finished my temporary work at 3pm and decided to visit some of these companies to try to make my way to get an interview... the results were atrocious...
I went to 5 companies before 5 pm:
1 disappeared, wasn’t at the listed internet address.
1 had the lifts blocked you couldn’t go up.
1 had two beautiful receptionists but no-one could see me.
1 was closed, probably at 5, the glass doors were spotless and it was a very nice office.
1 I actually managed to meet an agent, he shook my hand and sent me on my merry way...
There must be a way!!!! THERE MUST BE A WAY!!!
If you know the trick of finding a job in this crazy market, let me know! Recruiters are people, I swear to God they are, so there has to be a way to get to them...
Or are they like flight attendants? I have never met one outside of an airplane, have you?
Meu Pai, minha irma e eu numa ventania
- Vai, bate de novo que acaba saindo! Bate mais forte!
Isso foi o que meu pai ouviu quando chegou na república em São Carlos pela primeira vez, há uns bons bocados de anos atrás. Contornou a casa e foi ao quintal onde achou quatro marmanjos tentando tirar o macarrão de dentro da panela de pressão depois de terem deixado cozinhar por vinte minutos no fogo alto
[ Click here to read more ]
Dad, me and Mom
- Come on! Smash it again! Harder!
This is what my father heard when he arrived at his new fraternity house, where he was going to live while studying for his bachelor. He went to the backyard to find four blokes trying to get the pasta out of the pressure cooker after leaving it cooking for a long time
[ Click here to read more ]
Gianne Abbot at Brazilian Festival Flyer
RITMO Brazilian Festival 2009 is the perfect place for you to experience new dancing exposure. “Ritmo” means “rhythm” and it is the name for this celebration, an initiative of BraCCA, Brazilian Community Council of Australia. Ritmo is scheduled for the 20th September 2009 at Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour
[ Click here to read more ]
Flyer Ritmo Festival Brasileiro do BraCCA - 2009
RITMO é uma celebração da Cultura Brasileira na Austrália. Um evento organizado pelo BraCCA, Brazilian Community Council of Australia, que vem sendo realizado desde 2001 e que nasceu com a comemoração dos 500 anos do Brasil. Em sua nona edição, acontecerá dia 20 de Setembro no Tumbalong Park, no Darling Harbour, uma das áreas mais espetaculares da cidade.
[ Click here to read more ]
Flyer of Ritmo - Brazilian Festival in Sydney 2009
“Ritmo” means “rhythm” and it is the name for this Brazilian Cultural celebration, an initiative of BraCCA, Brazilian Community Council of Australia. The event has been happening since 2001 and this is its ninth edition, it was created as part of the celebration of Brazil’s 500 years anniversary. Ritmo Brazilian Festival is scheduled for the 20th September 2009 at Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour, one of Sydney’s most breathtaking sites. This event is so important that it has a date kept in reserve in Sydney’s calendar every year.
[ Click here to read more ]
Lilian Leiva
As Flores desse jardim, esse paraíso onde vivemos nossas vidas, são pessoas como a Lilian Leiva, essa brasileira que sofreu um derrame no mês passado. Ela é uma flor que vive tudo que a vida tem para dar, não importa o que tenha acontecido. É por isso que ela vai sobreviver, se recuperar e viver uma vida maravilhosa.
Os médicos lhe deram o apelido de “Garota Milagrosa” porque sua vivacidade e recuperação os impressionaram muito. Muita gente simplesmente sente pena de si mesma e cria desculpas para não aproveitar o máximo da vida. Lilian não se rendeu ao que a vida lhe trouxe, sua estrela brilhou mais forte e, ao invés de ficar se lamentando, engatou uma primeira e avançou o carro da vida ladeira acima.
[ Click here to read more ]
Lilian Leiva
This is the nickname the doctors gave Lilian Leiva, this Ossielian (Australian Brazilian) like me. She is only 27 and had a stroke mid July. The miracle: simply her survival, her recovery, her bright star.
She is one that didn’t surrender to the downs of life. Like everyone she feels it but instead of commiserating she puts first gear in her life-car, looks to the top of the hill and heads up full steam ahead. An uncommon response... Most people feel sorry for themselves and give excuses for not living all that they can.
[ Click here to read more ]
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Comment by Tania Crivellenti
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