I know this post is 10 years old but I guess it holds true these day as well, but, have you ever considered what those people have to go through filling in several application forms a day? Here's the other side of the coin for you. I read through your job description which is perfect for me and find that I need to send my CV toyou@acompany. A CV I have painstakingly itemised my career in the industry and concisely produced onto two A4 pages. Severaldays later through snail mail, an envelope arrives which you@acompanyhas addressed to me using my name and address you got from my CV. I open the envelope to find an application form and cover letter starting with "Dear Sir/Madam". Dear Sir/Madam? You wrote my name on the envelope you got from the CV you requested. I read on to find you've copied and pasted all the information about the advertised job I've already read on the job description you posted on-line. You also instruct me not to copy and paste from my CV and to write it all down on your application form. On to the application form itself, and the first question is "Name"My name was on my CV, you wrote it on the envelope remember. The second question is "Address"Again my address was on my CV, you wrote that on the envelope too,with my name, remember. The role specific, show how and expanding on questions are the important ones which need to be filled in, but then comes listing all the previous experience, previous companies worked for, qualifications, schools and colleges attended,grades achieved, all with dates and references. Did you actually read past the name and address bit on my CV? because all that information on my CV which I have painstakingly itemised my career in the industry and concisely produced onto two A4 pages for YOUR benefit, and YOU requested it in the first place. As this is just an application form for an interview for a job, why do you need at this stage to know my nationality, national insurance number, bank details, next of kin, gender, sexual orientation,marital status and ethnic origin. They are all questions for your HR department AFTER I have accepted the job role. And finally, in some cases I have been told that the role is subject to a CRB check at my expense regardless of success. Firstly, unless I would be working with children or vulnerable adults, requesting a CRB check is illegal, and secondly, you want a CRB check, you pay for it. If you don't want to use a candidates CV as part of their application process, don't request it. And if you can't use anon-line application process incorporating their CV, don't advertise on-line. Why in this day and age are we still reverting to paper application forms and snail mail. So please spare a thought for the poor sods trying to get work, having to fill in up to 20 application forms per week, repeating the same information over and over and over again in a multitude of formats and platforms, and 99% of the time, never getting a simple "Thanks but no thanks". Rant over.
