Why "One Click Apply" to job baskets is not good for you.

"ONE CLICK APPLY"  COULD HARM YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING A JOB.

Let's assume that it's 6pm, you've had a bad day at work and were wishing you'd not had another lengthy or difficult trip home.  You yearn for a new adventure, a betterjob, a more interesting job, anything but the job you are in.


(Let's face it, unless you are very lucky,  most of us have been there at some stage of our career.)

If you have not already done so, you settle down and proceed to check your emails and Facebook messages when you notice you've got three job alerts from various jobsites that you recently registered with.

One alert politely continues "Do you wish to apply?" 


You are probably thinking 'Hell yeah!'  So you apply for the roles because the keyword that triggered the alert was "Analyst".

The jobsite then, in processing these applications, politely enquires "do you wish to add your saved CV?"

Once again you are probably thinking 'Hell yeah!'  After all you really have had enough of that other job.

So in a couple of clicks you have applied for at least half a dozen roles and you will soon be released from your torturous job and be taking that next step on the ladder of success.  WRONG!

Job boards provide you with a tempting basket of jobs.  They tell you to use OCA their "one click to apply" for all function that puts your saved CV for all the jobs in a flash.     Hey presto you have applied for a basket full of jobs in seconds and hey it's cost you nothing.  You could be forgiven for asking     "What could go wrong?"

The answer to that is plenty.

Let's look at the possible downsides to using this very efficient way of making your application weaker.

Generic CV's are good for CV banks NOT for specific jobs

Firstly, when you saved that CV onto the job board it was most likely a general version designed to have the widest appeal.  Otherwise why bother?
However, when applying you should always adapt your CV according to your relevant skills and experience.  The more experience you have the more work you need to do to make the CV relevant, after all you probably cannot fit everything onto it.
We are not suggesting that you invent things,  it must be truthful and accurate.

Written for the wrong role

All too often we see an applicant sending in a CV with a summary stating that he or she wants a career in this or that but not the role they are applying for.

e.g. "I am looking to embark on a career in Regulatory Affairs"

Fine you might say but not if the role the person has applied for is a QC role. 
A good Consultant will reject the application there and then because they should not be putting people forward to a role that the applicant is not really interested in.
So a generic CV or one written for a different role will probably not get sent to the client.

Edit your CV for each role.  

So it takes a bit longer but you must realise that you are in competition with other people, your CV needs to be as good as you can possibly make it.  We will publish an article for that shortly.

A very wise person once told me that, lazy people tend to do what is convenient and they rarely do what is appropriate.  That was a generalism and perhaps it may seem harsh but there is an element of truth to that belief. 
One could say the same of people who are very busy and short of time etc.   That covers most of us!

"So what do I do?"

In April 2013 one job board alone claimed to have have almost 6 million people registered.  So it seems safe to assume that a rapidly growing percentage of professionals and grads have either registered on business social media and one or more of the job boards.

That job alert basket was most likely filled with a mix of advertised roles from companies looking to hire directly and from Recruitment Agencies who represent other companies who currently remain anonymous.
What you would have successfully done is to alienate most people receiving and looking at your CV.  
Busy professionals are not there to process applications from people who cannot be bothered to read the job specification or to be honest with themselves or simply avoid applying for some of the jobs.
How can we consider applicants for roles when they apparently have lost the ability to read?

Applicants need to apply only for those roles that suit their background and qualifications.
This requires that you do two things:

1. Read the job spec - very thoroughly.
2. Apply only for relevant roles and only then after reviewing and amending your CV.

So, take time to edit your CV and apply for each role with a specific CV and make sure that you keep a copy with a record of when you submitted the CV and for what job etc.

Good luck, we hope that our advice will help you get that plum job.

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