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Discussion on: How NOT to apply for a job

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sertii2 profile image
Sertii

Honestly what do you expect? These are super open ended questions. All this person wants is to perform labor for you and for you to pay them. Forms like these are often extremely opaque, the applicant has no idea what you actually want to know with them. So why exactly is this person wrong? Can you name a concrete reason or is it just "they didn't put enough effort in"? If so, is your goal with this form to see how much unpaid work people are willing to put in?

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mjsarfatti profile image
Manuele J Sarfatti

It surprises me that you call this "unpaid work", since not only I gain nothing from people filling up a form, but I'm also trying to make it as easy as possible for them to go through it. For example, instead of asking for a lengthy description of past projects and experiences, I only ask for the link to one particular project they are proud of. It is meant mainly to be a conversation starter in the interview. (Please note that what you see are not the actual questions, which are much clearer, they are just the backoffice column names)

But I can relate to you saying that the candidate has no idea what I want to know from them. I found myself in the same position many times, where you never know if the person on the other side will prefer a more formal or a more friendly/down to earth person.

But I very recently understood that it's a wrong attitude to try to please the other party by guessing what they will want from you. It's a lost war. The best thing is to be yourself, and show the most interesting self you can be.