Online applications; excruciatingly painful.

[simple_gifts]

Decided to apply for a CNC job since mfg is roaring in CT at this time; I've been to one job interview in the last 18 years (IT job) with a German aerospace company and that didn't go well, so I think i need to hone my skills.

Went online and starting filling out an online form for a local company that does structural aerospace work.

No indication of what info one needs and no reliable way to back up and complete stuff I didn't collect @ the time.
I fill out military experience under training and job, only to have them ask me about military service later on; gee, i should have known.

I get to the end, and 'no review' and no warning of submittal; i just get a 'thanks for your application' (90% filled out) and we'll get back to you. I didn't attach the cover letter since I was going to do that right @ the end. Nope.

Seriously? How about "Before starting you will need x y and z"

Some 'tech leaders' think everyone should learn to program. Why? Some people aren't cut out for it, just like some aren't cut out to play the trombone. 10 years of lessons doesn't help someone who isn't musical; perhaps I got the IT version one of those guys.

So, be patient with the online job applications (probably most knew this) and come fully prepared with you LDL results.

I'm probably doing to directly email the company with my cover letter, telling them their online application program thwarted my attaching it.

-T

 

[JeepWJ19]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts


Some 'tech leaders' think everyone should learn to program. Why? Some people aren't cut out for it, just like some aren't cut out to play the trombone. 10 years of lessons doesn't help someone who isn't musical; perhaps I got the IT version one of those guys.

So, be patient with the online job applications (probably most knew this) and come fully prepared with you LDL results.

I'm probably doing to directly email the company with my cover letter, telling them their online application program thwarted my attaching it.

-T



I know all too well of that process...

The worst of the sites I've seen use Taleo. There's other application software out there that are good but Taleo is so awful I actually remember it lol.

I can see where background knowledge in software development is important in IT but for IT it is what it is - a plus. It's not hard to learn how to write software, anyone can do it, it's just learning a language. It's not like you have to learn design and architectural patterns, algorithmic solutions, statistical analysis or any other parts of Engineering.

For IT you'd probably benefit most from scripting languages like bash or script-like "toy" languages like Perl or Python. Those languages are really good for nifty little automation tasks you IT people could use. JMO

Good luck :]

 

[KitaCam]

I hate instructions written by people who already know them and don't know how to be explicit and explicitly sequential in explaining them one step (ahead) at a time....
As a customer service rep who often has to walk people through our company's web-site, it's a necessity I'm acutely/painfully aware of every day.

 

[pandus13]

I fell for you my suffering friend:
May I also suggest you invest a bit in 3D software training (Solidworks, Mastercam.....) also....

The painful websites are a mirror of the "have no idea about anything" HR people.

Still some people at my company not knowing what I'm doing (IT + lots of hats in mfg). me serving them a partial list of my projects for the past years had some jaws drop....

 

[jeepman3071]

Online applications suck. You would think by now there would be a universal format to upload a resume. Instead, most of them have you input the information manually, or somehow it tries to pull the resume into an online form and usually makes a jumbled mess of it.

I also work in the IT field. I provide desktop, one to one student device and server support for a town/school district as well as supporting the student information system and state reporting. I have 6 years experience in the IT field, but have a degree in Sociology not Computer Science.

I hate that most jobs that aren't programming jobs require you to have a computer science degree or know tons of programming languages for entry level positions. It's not really necessary. Being willing to learn, strong work ethic, problem solving, and some experience is important. These days it seems good communication skills (insert nerdy non-social IT guy joke here) is extremely important for coordinating projects within an enterprise environment, and many people struggle with this.

My dad is the director for a State agency's IT department. There are probably 60 people or so in this IT agency. He is the only one with a Computer Science degree.

 

[rubberchicken]

The thing about Taleo is that it has good integration and workflow capabilities that are not visible to the applicant. If you meet the minimum requirements, it usually gets routed to the correct HR rep for review, then to the hiring manager. If your name has a match with a recommendation sent by a current employee, then you get a much higher "score". See if you can find somebody that currently works in that company, and get them to hand deliver a resume or "add" you into the system with a recommendation. Worst case, call the HR rep and ask to get an interview just to polish your interview skills.

 

[Andrew1972]

Cover letter are D E A D!

All that work you do on the front leads to a nice aggregation behind it and ability for recruiters to deal with it all.

Cover letters are covered off by a data entry field or two optional and likely ignored. Remember you can paste into boxes.

That being said the UI experience is poor. However majority of HR recruiting simply does not pay for decent customization of generic interface then mods it a bit and you get what you see.

I work with recruiting and onboarding at Technical Architecture level for large company. We use brass ring/Kenexa for intital part of experience.

 

[Mr Nice]

Yeah, having your resume and other relevant info on a word document... then simply cut and paste all the info in the correct areas of job application.

It's best if you knew someone already working there so they could do internal referral to hiring manager.