Outdated Advice For Job Applicants


A golden envelope.

I was recently asked to look at some advice for new graduates entering the workforce. It was the usual mix of helpful, obvious, and trite. You know the sort - tailor your application to the job specification, make sure your CV is spelled correctly, don't give up, etc. In the middle of it, was this doozy. "Put your application in a gold coloured envelope so it stands out from the crowd!" This struck me as… unusual advice. But I checked against the Twitter hive mind. Terence Eden is on M…

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Dear Recruitment Consultants


Graphic. A giant hand plucks out a person from a row of identical men in suits.

I regularly get contacted by recruitment consultants. Even though I'm very happy in my job right now (Hi Boss!) I usually don't mind being contacted. However, after having just had a particularly disturbing encounter with a recruiter, I thought it might be worth stating these rules up front. These are personal to me - but I expect they apply pretty broadly to most people. Don't email my work address. Tell me who your client is up front. Don't lie to me. Don't alter my CV.…

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