10 things that drive me mad on candidates' applications .

As head of talent here at Sagittarius I see a lot of candidate applications and CV’s across a lot of job disciplines and there is a common bugbear which I just can't ignore, if you want to please a recruiter for a vacancy that you are applying for, please ensure you don’t do any of the below!

1. Covering email with no CV attached
2. CV with no contact details on it
3. Application with no salary expectations
4. Typos and spelling errors on CV and/or covering letter
5. Speculative applications with no indicator of what the candidate is looking for
6. No relevant experience AND no transferable skills
7. Unexplained gaps (dates) on CV’s
8. Massively long and totally irrelevant profiles
9. Unprofessional email addresses
10. Picture of a rubbish bin with loads of bits of paper in it

There are also some great things to see on CV’s so make sure your doing the below when applying for positions or seeing a change in job role:

1. Truly relevant experience or great transferable skills
2. All the info I need – salary, start dates, motivations for moving roles, residential location or ability to travel or relocate
3. Unique applications – CV’s that are tailored to match our core values or the role
4. Genuine reasons for wanting this role
5. Evidence of research about our organisation
6. Some personality
7. Failing all that – some interesting or unusual hobbies and interests…

Good luck for your future applications, I hope the above will provide you with some good guidance for the future!