Pet Peeves
Pet Peeves
Published On 26/09/2018
Now, everyone who works for the Key Group has a positive outlook, that’s a given OK? We do everything we can to ensure we recruit and retain the right people with the right attitude. Yet every now and then I hear a grumble about aspects of the work and so I like to stick my neck out and ask the team here at Key HQ if they would like to tell me about things they’d like to change.
So please find our list of ‘Pet Peeves’ - it’s not exhaustive but it’s a start. If your experiences are similar, I’d love to hear what you think! By the way, I could easily have written a separate list of ‘CV Peeves’ – maybe that’s for another day, so I’ve only included a few here.
- Candidates getting their OWN telephone/contact details WRONG in their application or CV, especially when they say that one of their ‘strengths or key skills’ is their ‘eye for detail’
- People who use ‘Comic Sans’ font (or freestyle script or any other ‘humorous’ font) to look different in their CV. I didn’t believe this actually happened…only to be inundated with examples that proved it does!
- People using ‘text speak’ when writing their professional CV . Same as above, I thought this was merely the stuff of legend…and then one of my consultants proved me wrong (lolz! J)
- People who don’t know how to differentiate between “your/you’re”; “there/their/they’re” and “to/too/two” etc…especially when their CV says that they have ‘an eye for detail’ and ‘excellent written communication’ skills)
- People who use ‘supposably’ in place of ‘supposedly’, or ‘pacifically’ in place of ‘specifically’ (or ANY dodgy word in place of any perfectly good one it seems!)
- Someone who formats their CV in a way that requires a degree in graphic design (and a 12 hour working day) in order for it to be put into a format we can put on our system…and here we should also include people who send their CV to us as a ‘screenshot’ or a ‘scan’ rather than as a document that we can re-format for them…seriously, you’d be surprised how often it happens!
- People who apply for jobs for who say they are only willing to work part-time hours when the advert clearly states that it is a full-time position only or want to work from home when the post is advertised as office based etc etc….and then get annoyed with us when we explain that this is not what our client is looking for.
- Candidates who don’t tell the truth on their CV/application form…honesty is such a big one in recruitment isn’t it? People can sometimes bend the truth about what they can do and about what they want. It’s very much like saying you are 6’ 3” on a dating app when you are really 5’ 2”…your prospective date WILL find out eventually you know!
- Some people are really good at disappearing off the face of the earth when they’ve been booked for an interview / a temp assignment / or a job start and then changed their mind. Don’t switch your phone off or ignore it when we call you to find out why our client has informed us you didn’t show up. We know those last minute emergencies can crop up, you just need to let us know, be brave, it happens, we can deal with it.
- When we make an appointment to register you, please keep it or call us to say your circumstances have changed and you can’t attend anymore. This is especially true when we’ve agreed to meet you close to your home or current workplace, thirty-odd miles from our office!
I’m hoping that giving the Key team the ability to ‘vent’ over these issues has helped in some small way. Judging them on how much the exercise moved them emotionally, I’m considering introducing a little more decaf into the office coffee tin!
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these matters and remember, a problem shared is a problem halved!
Monica Key - Managing Director
T: 023 9275 1000