Sunday, December 30, 2007

7 Things That Every Job Applicant Should Know



  1. The requirements that are in the job advertisement are probably not the real requirements.


  2. The person who placed the ad may not know what the job entails.


  3. The person who supervises the position may not know what the job entails.


  4. Odds are the people doing the screening do not know why "five years of experience" are needed.

  5. In most cases, the degree requirement means they want a person who is reasonably well educated, can write, conduct basic research, and is in possession of enough self-discipline to get through college. Needless to say, there are plenty of people without degrees who have those qualities.


  6. Although the application deadline is next week the job may already be filled.


  7. Landing the job and successfully performing the job are two very different things.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post. It should be must reading for job applicants and the people who love them. It wouldn't hurt if a few recruiting managers and HR directors read it as well. As for "Landing the job and successfully performing the job are two very different things." This is very true. One is courtship. The other is marriage.

Michael Wade said...

Thanks, Wally.

The gap between the landing and the performance reminds me of Kissinger's remark that seeking the presidency is like playing football while the actual presidency is more like poker.

Michael