the cover letter I would love to send ;)

[LMY]

I always send the typical, friendly letter "Dear so and so, I'm this, I found you here, I can do this, blah, blah, blah."
What I would love to write one day is "Dear so and so, I was looking at your company and saw that the people working for you really aren't doing a great job. I can draw so much better than any of them, you'll be begging me to work for you once you see my stuff. You'll wonder what you did without me. I don't understand why you hired those people to begin with.
I've been tempted to send such a letter once or twice, just to see what happens, but I'm too afaid of screwing up a possible contact for work.
Has anyone tried being this honest for whatever job you applied for? Maybe not that honest but something similar? I'm to worried I'll seem cocky if I write "I think my skills are a perfect addition to your company" or "I feel I could creat some great work for you". Any suggestions?

[jbboogie]

How great would that be if you could send a letter exactly like that. I don't think that those last two comments that you wrote would be inappropriate. I've seen comments like those in cover letters myself. It's an eye catcher really.

[LMY]

Maybe I'll try it next time. It can't hurt, can it? Maybe it'll help relieve the stress over finding a job that I know I can do in my sleep and really want!
Speaking of covers letters and such, you know what I hate? When I apply for a job online at a job search site, I wait for a week or so for some sort of reply, and when I go back to search for more work, I see the job I applied for has been re-posted by the same person I contacted! Couldn't even send me a "no thank you" letter...It's even worse when the person I contact writes me back and we communicate for a while over the project, and then I'm sent the "we don't need you" form letter from the site where I found the job. I really should get a thicker skin for internet job hunting.

[smitten]

What field are you going into? Tips: follow up on all e-applications with a phone call. Go directly to the companies - recruitment agencies, at least in my experience, are a horrible waste of time, especially the online ones. Get names and numbers. If you're going into, say, advertising, find out who's heading up the appropriate department, email them with a very brief cover letter, with your cv attached, and be sure to state that you will follow up with a call in a couple of days, then make those calls. Be persistent - when you're told 'We'll call you in a few days/next week/whenever,' that usually means *you're* the one who has to make the call. Be tenacious, be confident, and, yes, be cocky - managers want people with balls, with attitude, with guts and persistence. And do your homework before making any form of contact. Also, you might want to check out monster.com's tips on job-hunting. Hope that helps. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Send the letter. look for a company that you could give two shits about and send it. I bet you it would work.

Short, sweet and too the point.

Send it!

[allydex]

I too have been incredibly tempted to send an honest cover letter like that. However every time I go to write one I completely freeze up. How can you sell yourself with words without sounding egotistical? My normal cover letters end up being two paragraphs and I never get call backs.

The other annoying thing is when you have an interview and the person doesn't have the decency to call or write you to let you know that they aren't going to hire you. So you end up waiting for nothing. (Sorry I'm going through that right now and it is really starting to piss me off!) I thought that we were supposed to the ill-mannered generation.

Thanks for listening to the rant,
Allison

[Anonymous]

I've got to say something about the job application process. NEVER RELY ON COMPANIES TO CALL YOU BACK. Go into the application process assuming that call-backs coming from their end are an animal which just do not exist. YOU be the one to call back. Before you email or fax or mail the application/resume/cover letter, CALL the contact person to confirm their address/number. And tell them your name. Get it in their head. Then, after you fax or email your packet, call immediately, say you're not sure your computer/fax machine sent it properly, and ask that they retrieve it and count the pages to make sure. Next, ask if they need anything else, and when you might call back with regard to the status of the application process. Don't hang up until you and they are clear about when you'll call back. Suggest one week, and write on your calendar the contact person's name and their phone number for call back day. If they tell you a time/day you'll hear from them by, you have full license to set their phones a'ringin' first thing the morning of said day.
When I hear friends commiserating about not having received call backs, I could smack my forehead. It's your job to follow up.

[quanyn]

Before sending a cover letter like that, you may want to consider the idea that the boss, himself, could have done a lot of the work you can 'do so much better than'. Also, if you studied marketing, you know that blowing your horn, then not delivering as much as you say you can, leads to disappointment.

[Anonymous]

You know, I actually did send a letter like that this summer (to a company I didn't care much about joining). Nothing happened, of course, good or bad.

I'm 26 and had been out of work because of the dot-com bust, and even with 5 years of work experience and a very good degree, I was having as much luck as when I was just out of college: none. Resume after resume, month after month, nothing.

I was signed up for some e-mail newsletters from a pretty well-known site, and week after week they were coming broken links, misinformation, and typos. Here were some people who actually still had dot-com jobs and they couldn't even be bothered to look over their work!

When your unemployment insurance has long since run out, your rent is classic NYC-level, and you're looking back on several years of top grades, hard work, expensive university loans, and pride-swallowing humiliation in dues-paying jobs, it gets really irritating to see employed people who don't even bother to do really simple jobs with a minimal level of care. So I figured what the hell.

I don't remember what I actually said in that cover letter, but it was something like, "There are so many people who would be honored to even have a job right now, why not take advantage of the glut of available talent? Hire someone who cares enough about their work to proof a newsletter before it goes out to hundreds of thousands of subscribers."

Not surprisingly, I never heard back. But it was still worth it.

[Anonymous]

As someone who has reviewed resumes and conducted interviews... I say send the cocky cover letter. First and foremost, it will get their attention. (In a stack of 20 resumes, they all tend to blend together without something unique.)

The boss doesn't care about your ego as long as you can back it up. Do you really believe that you're better than everyone else they have in that position? Can you prove it? If so, don't be shy about putting it out there.

If you don't sell yourself, how are they ever going to buy (hire) you?

[S]

I'd really like to send a cover letter informing the recipient that "The File Clerk I position you've advertised on www.monster.com (http://www.monster.com) piqued my interest. I believe my master's degree in English attests to a facility with the alphabet that will allow me to file documents quickly and accurately."

But I won't. /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Speaking of follow-up calls, what about companies that warn applicants against phone contact? I always follow up with a call unless I see "NO PHONE CALLS!!!" within the job posting. Sometimes I call anyway, but this disobedience has never led to an interview.

[Unregistered]

I just sent out about ten cover letters just like the one you mentioned to advertising firms in New York. If I end up on the employee refrigerator with a note saying "has this chick got balls or what?" stuck to it, i will consider my efforts worth while. I worked for a recruitment office in London briefly. My God, after a day spent reading those infernal letters, I wanted to shoot myself. No one deserves that kind of misery, least of all people in human resources. Almost everybody follows the prescribed formula. Are you everybody? Do you really want to ally yourself with all the soul-less job applicants of the world? You may be wondering whether i've heard from anyone yet? Well, I sent out the letters Friday last week. Maybe by Wednesday I will have raised enough eyebrows to get a response. To be on the safe side, I've decided to call the human resource departments and ask to speak with the person that reads the resumes. I say, for your own mental health and the mental health of those that have to read your resume, write the letter. If nothiong else, you will feel the pure exhilaration of making a public spectacle of yourself, which is in itself therapeutic.

[Phoenix]

I'm interested to know what happens...please post a reply if you get any feedback on your creative cover letters :)

[Unregistered]

Not like they actually read the cover letter. All that time to make it perfect and they might not even go through the first line! Can't wait 'til the economy goes back up and we can reject them like the good 'ole days.

[Manna243]

I've had the same type of situation, except over the phone...

After about 50 rejection letters saying that I "wasnt experienced enough" I was pretty much at the end of my rope. One day, an HR rep from a company I'd applied at called me to ask me few questions to get a better idea of how qualified I was. We spoke for about 10 mintues before she said "I'm sorry but I think we're looking for someone with a little more experience to fill this position." So I interrupted her, and said... "Well, how do you presume that I go about getting this experience if you and your stuffy company wont give me the chance?" She was completely taken off guard, and stuttered a little when she said "I'm sorry, but I cant help you with that." The apprehension in her voice was better than any job offer she could have given me.

Sometimes it feels good to say what you REALLY think, regardless of how wrong it really is. :) Especially when you've heard the same story (not enough experience) a gazillion times. UGH!

[Unregistered]

Well, that does suck, but you know I do have experience and I'm also getting rejected. I'm fluent in Spanish, graduated magna cum laude and always please my bosses at my current job, but somehow I not getting calls for even the most trivial jobs. What's worse though is if a company wastes 2-3 of your vacation days for second and third interviews only to send you some canned rejection letter. I still see the ad on their website. If they had no intention of hiring me, why waste my time?! Good for you for standing up to them! Obviosly if we graduated college, we're not idiots, but nobody cares, it seems.

[crazy-girl]

UGH! That totally aggravates me! I've wasted my vacation days too only to never hear anything back at all. There are times when I'd love to get a canned letter instead of the silent treatment I get now.

I thought I'd share this story which has gotten funnier to me as time has passed. This woman called me for a PR job at her company. She asked me a few questions and I felt like I was giving the right answers. It felt like it was really going well and then she says, "Well, I was honestly hoping to get some better resumes but if I don't---I'll call you back" I said, "Excuse me?" and she says "Well, see I hired this woman to be in charge and she's moving from Paris and doesn't speak English really well and also doesn't have a good grasp of American media and if she knew a bit more, I'd feel better hiring you to work under her but since she'll be learning a lot herself---it would be too hard for both of you to learn."

Sigh.

[Unregistered]

Aren't you glad that you didn't work for them, though? Better to know now than later, but heck, don't waste my hard earned vacation! I mean 2nd, 3rd interviews for not even mid-career jobs! YOu'd think I was applying for a CEO position. I don't get it that we're not supposed to discuss salary, benefits until way later (I don't do this, btw), why the hell do I work?! Why don't they tell me right away so I can write THEM off, for a change like in the good 'ole days. HR people are so rude now because they can be and are dumber than ever!

[crazy-girl]

HR people totally piss me off sometimes!

A few weeks ago I sent my resume to a company. They didn't have a job posted but I was doing a mass mail out and hoped something would happen. Two days later an HR woman called and we spoke for about a 1/2 hour on a friday. She said she'd call that monday so we could set up an interview. Heard nothing. That Wednesday I sent her a quick e-mail kissing her butt and saying how much I enjoyed our talk and would enjoy working for ___ company. Never heard anything. Now, why tell me you're going to call and then don't.

It's a lot like dating, isn't it?

[Unregistered]

Oh that is so frustrating! I mean this is our future and they are playing with our egos. But that's unprofessional and I'm sick of dealing with that. I even write thank yous, like a stupid brown noser and don't get these jobs that I'm sure I have gotton after an interview or 2nd, 3rd. Waste of my $ and my time!

[Delirium]

This is the bravest I have ever gotten (cut and pasted this from a real cover letter): Please picture, if you will a photgraph of me sticking my tongue out and winking in the corner of the letter.

Dear Blah blah blah

(Rubbish rubbish rubbish then the last paragraph:)

I think you will find that I am different, in every way, from everyone you have ever met, and that once you have hired me, you will be horrified that the place was ever so dull. Also, I am getting a bit desperate for a job and if you don't give me one, I might have to come over there. Just joking. No really though, I am smashing.

Looking forward to showing you my new haircut,

Me, sign etc.......

Okay, I was dead lucky, I got it. But it was a creative area.
Good luck all

Del xx

[Crisita]

I'm one of those HR people you all love. I am also one of you!

I am on vacation this week to get away from the demands of a fast-paced HR career. I've been working 60-hour weeks. Like many of us, I often wonder, "Is this all there is?"

Please allow me to defend HR folks just a little:
While many large companies can afford to staff full-time recruiters, my mid-sized firm requires us to manage many other priorities simultaneously. We could be dealing with performance issues, discussing concerns an individual has about their salary, and selling a new benefit program to sr. management all in the same day. It doesn't help any to have a deluge of emails and voicemails from hopeful candidates to respond to. I don't mean to sound unsympathetic. Because of my dissatisfaction with my work life, I will likely soon be among the frustrated and jobless, waiting for those responses myself.

I only have room for one tip about follow-up:
- Don't bother to follow-up if you don't honestly consider yourself to be a strong candidate for a specific position.

[crazy-girl]

It's good to hear from an HR person!

I have bitched about HR folks in this post and honestly you raise some valid points. I have never expected more than just a form letter post-card or e-mail telling me the position has been filled (only if I was interviewed---if not interviewed I don't expect to hear anything). I was once flown out to a different city and put up for the night only to never hear from anyone there after what I thought was a fairly good interview. Nothing. No e-mails answered. Not a thing. I had taken off two days of work and driven an hour to the airport and paid for overnight parking. A form note would have been nice.

[Unregistered]

To the HR person,

I do understand that yes, your job is especially busy now. Here are some tips for HR people if they don't want to 1)lose really good candidates 2) mess up the reputation of the company (which will suck when the economy tips in our favor, which it will!):

-if a position is closed, take it off the darn website ASAP

-if you really, really want an MA, just say required, not preferred.

-if possible, provide the interviewee with a benefits summary (we are interviewing you as well), since it's taboo for us to ask about this basic part of job searching. This will also save me from having to take an extra (hard earned) vacation day for the second interview

-don't play stupid interview games. why would I want to work for someone who will treat me like that?

[Densel]

I applied to a company, a lady in HR called me back. She was impressed with my resume. Asked me when would be a good time for me to meet her, told her I was open, she told me Thurs looks good and would call me tomorrow with the details. She never called back or returned my calls.

A friend of mine knows someone in upper management, I got into the company, bypassed HR cause all the interviews were set up directly with the VP of marketing that i was going to be working for.

Can you guys image the look on her face the first day I went to work and was told to met her to fill out paperwork. I reminded her how I waited for her call.

Well, well...she is now suppose to support me...cause I was hired to be the Marketing Manager of the Dept!

BE VERY CAREFUL HOW YOU TREAT PEOPLE CAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE YOU'LL MEET!!!

[Unregistered]

Gosh, now that's awesome! Classic! You know, though, HR has such high turnover anyway that I just reapply a couple months later and I get a phone call.

Give her only the most time consuming assignments if you can. Do you do her performance review too?

I'm still bitter for the 2 1/2 vacations days I lost to those losers! I just saw the ad again in the POst. What, you couldn't find ANYONE to meet your requirements (no, it wasn't a freaking CEO position)? I had everything they required in the ad and they told me they were very interested in me in the interview in the most sincere tone. I mean, I graduated with honors, am bilingual, have stellar reviews from my current employer, so why am I getting so much rejection?

[crazy-girl]

I hate the wasted vacation days the most. I so rarely get days off I hate to spend them in an uncomfortable suit in traffic.

I just hate that most people don't realize that everything they do in the name of their company is PR for the company and themselves. I met a girl at a networking event and we chatted for a while and she mentioned that her company would be hiring someone on and it sounded like what I was looking for. I asked her if she knew who I should send my stuff to. She told me to e-mail it to her and she'd pass it on to the correct person. We exchanged cards, chatted some more. A day later I e-mailed her a nice note with a link to my resume web page. That was 3 months ago. I've heard NOTHING. Not even a reciprocal "Thanks, It was nice meeting you too---I'll pass this on" e-mail. I just think that's very unprofessional.

E-mail allows you to ignore people in ways that are often convenient but always rude.

[Unregistered]

You know, why bother even saying anything. Maybe she's been out or forgot to follow up. I would follow up one more time. If you have a phone number, that might be better. If you have a name of a recruiter, send it to that recruiter, ask her if you can use her name and format the cover letter appropriately. In the meantime, apply to everything that you have some experience in even if it isn't exactly the amount the ad calls for.

So have you had any interviews lately? I had one a couple weeks ago, but didn' t like the place at all, tension city!

[Densel]

You know what might be a good idea for people who are currently not working and are at home looking for jobs.

if you go on an interview and you haven't heard back from HR after a couple of weeks...go to the company and leave a note for the person you interviewed with at the front office (receptionist). it doesn't even have to be a thank you card. Let the note read...

Dear Ms. HR,

I was in the neighborhood and thought I should stop by to follow-up on my interview with you on the 1st of January.

I have included my phone number and email address below. Please let me know if I can start shopping for my work suits soon.

Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Densel
123-456-7890
kissass@bus.com

Just the thought that you stopped by should be a plus and it should get you a some type of feedback (positive or negative). Just the thought that you could have run into her at the reception area and cornered her for some answers would make her drop you a few lines via email.

[Unregistered]

Well, I've decided that the only I can do now, is keep applying (always), but to different companies. I've been applying to the same loser companies, with the same results, no call back, even though my resume has every skill listed that they ask for. I guess it's no wonder, they have the same ads for the same positions for over a year now. There's no excuse for that in this economy, 200 applicants per position, not one of them fits the bill? Here's my advice to my fellow bright, capable, wrongfully rejected applicants:

1. Stop applying to the same loser companies, at least not for another six months or so (HR pros are a dime a dozen so that's usually their lifespan at a company). Or, for fun (since you know they're not gonna call you for a job anyway), send them an e-mail asking if they're such a great place to work how come the same ad has been there for 2 years?

2. Take every opportunity at my current job to gain new skills and work on new projects as they're offered.

3. Do volunteer work to gain more on the job skills and network.

[sunbear]

Hi,
It's so nice to see I'm not the only one frusterated about this.
How does anyone feel about posting resumes on any given company's website? Not even on Monster or Hotjobs, but when people say, "send your resume to us on this site".
It seems as if they wont even take a resume in an office anymore. I like to hand my resumes to real people. The old fashioned way, eye-contact and all. If I don't, I feel like there's some sort of hidden agendas of nepotism and conspiracies involving scandelous toe sucking of HR personelle-
maybe they're just out playing golf or actually busy doing something....( I have a wild imagination)
********what is this mystery behind the behind that screen of potential employment? *******************************
I know I can't force someone to look at my stuff- but its even harder to get noticed. I couldn't get into ivy league, or even if I did I couldn't afford it. I KNOW I am very qualified and capable of some of the jobs I have applied for... and
Most of these places don't even give you a number so that you can see if your resume made it to them. It seems like a lot of the major companies are doing this- I feel so uneasy about this as a match making connection between employer and employee.
I think my resume is adequate- I've never gotten a response, unless if I'm lucky to get an automated e-mail saying "thank you for registering...?" Do they just find their way into computer vomit- I mean the deleted file? It just feels too void for me.

[Antonina]

I recently went to a job skills programme and was told by someone from within the HR industry, that with internet-lodged job applications and CV submissions, that often the companies no longer read anything first up. What they do is SCAN the submissions for KEYWORDS!!!! such as "leadership", "initiative" etc etc! I was gobsmacked. The scariest thing is that you may have the word "leadership" in your application but if they are scanning for "leader" then you will miss the boat. This is apparently how they narrow down applications initially these days at some corporations. Now that is scary.

[sunbear]

so major in MadLibs and you're ok then. The idea is whacked.


:confused:

[Unregistered]

The thing about keywords in a resume is completely true, especially for those of us in the IT industry. A counselor actually told me to put certain words in my cover letter/resume no matter what, even if it's just to say "I don't know how to..." or "I have no experience with...". Then it will make the first cut no matter what and get it looked at.

Also, always call back after an interview, don't wait for them!! A few years ago I interviewed for an internship at a very large company and I thought it went very well. But, no call. Eventually I got ahold of the interviewers number from my counselor and found out that they wanted a second interview and the HR lady just forgot to call me!! Let me tell you how pissed I was....but I got the job!!

[lonelypghgrrl]

Hey SMITTEN...

I LOVE YOUR QUOTE!

[maggie25]

i understand exactly how you feel!!
my boyfriend, who is just about to graduate from college, keeps telling me to go to the buildings. but they don't want me there! they tell me to go to their web site and apply. it's horrible, like i'm sending my resumes off in to a black hole. all i can say is it really makes you feel unappreciated. good luck to you!

mag

[sunbear]

I got my last job by going into buildings and handing out my resume. I'm trying hard to network...
Good luck to you on your search!

[angiebabie1976]

I play both roles, the applicant that never gets a response for jobs that I feel I'm totally qualify for and the HR role who tells you to apply on-line and throw away unsolicited resumes that gets stuffed in my mailbox. I do agree that companies play too many mind games with people. Some of it is HR's fault, a lot of it is management. I'm going to stick up for HR a little bit. HR is a support role, their customers are the managers and employees. Their responsibilities varies depending on the company they are with. Most of the time, HR makes no hiring decisions whatsoever. At my current position, even though I'm the one that posts the positions, I don't screen resumes, or conduct interviews. As I get resumes for the open position, I forward them on to the hiring manager and they are responsible for looking them over. If they find someone they are interested in interviewing, they'll call them up themselves to do a phone screening. When they are ready to bring them in for a face-to-face interview, I arrange the time and the conference room. It has happened in many cases where the managers would interview candidates without notifying HR. How is HR suppose to send the candidate a "thanks for interviewing" letter when HR doesn't even know interviews were going on in the first place. You think that hiring managers are going to do the letter? I don't think so. Because I have no hiring power, I get sick and tired of people sending me unsolicited resumes or calling to "sell" themselves. I'm in a rock and hard place myself. I have no power to conduct interviews, make hiring decisions, and I cannot disclose the name of the hiring manager to candidates because they'll be bugging them like crazy. If you applied on line, trust me, they got it. If the manager feel that you might be a good fit, then they will call you. Don't send me unsolicited resumes expecting me to find a "fit'" for your skills, I don't have the time. I know that everyone thinks that they are the best and all, but trust me, there are a dime a dozen. Everyone can say they are a hard worker, quick learner, blah blah blah. So does everyone else in this world, you have no way to prove it. There is no incentive for me to go out of my way trying to find a "fit' of your skills to a position within the company, unless you have highly desirable skills. Majority of the jobs are replaceable, you are replaceable. I'll reveal a secret, a lot of times, company post positions to meet EEO or AAP requirements. Even though the position is posted, they probably already have someone in mind. The posting is more to meet the legal requirements. I hate doing it, because I feel like such a traitor. In the companies where HR does initial screenings, maybe they really did like your resume and you got an interview. But when HR refers you to the manager, maybe the manager never got back to HR whether they are interested to pursue you further. One thing I do make sure is that if the person is interviewed whether it be over the phone or face to face that I send them a letter thanking them for their time (when I find out about the interview that is.) A lot of the time, you have to think that management really holds the cards, not HR. The other thing about how you are suppose to gain experience if you don't get the job? Well, that's your problem, not the companies. It's a business, the goal is to make a profit. Companies now a days have very little time and money to deal with training and development. Training is usually for current staff and is at the bottom of the priority list. I'm not saying that I agree with this, but I know for a fact that the goal of every business is to hire someone who can just come in and hit the floor running. They are not going to hire someone without the experience and hope that the new hire will learn eventually. It is too big of a risk for the company. I know that this sounds harsh, but these are things I have learned since I've been in the real world. It sucks, but if you think like a business, all of these will make sense. It is the law of supply and demand and basic economics. It sucks....

Now the applicant role. Yes, I do think it is very unprofessional for people to not even bother sending a thank you note to say you are not qualified. At least have the common curtsey to send a note if a face to face interview happened. However, don't expect to get a note if you didn't even get called. I apply for HR jobs, and they still don't send me a letter. That is what I try to do in my position right now. Even though I do have a job, it is still frustrating to not hear back for jobs that I feel I'm totally qualified for. I'm afraid to call because I know that when applicants call me, I don't even bother to reply because it's annoying. But I think I'm going to start following up.

Okay, I wrote a novel. Sorry.

[sunbear]

Hi Angiebabie1976,
I know you're HR and not a career councellor-Thank you for posting! It is nice to hear what actually happens inside the HR office, it has always felt strange to me posting my resume online.
You said that you didn't have time to find a "fit" for the postion when you get an unsolicited resume. I just have a question about that and I'm not sure if you're even the right person to ask.
However, sometimes when I apply for a job with a company I usually believe they would have a position I could get. Anyways, the companies don't always post the title or description of their positions and I'm not sure of the exact position that I'm even applying for. What do you do in that case?
And the other question, I've applyed for a company I wanted to work for recently. They were great in responding to me right away. I wasn't sure what the title was- they responded knowing EXACTLY what I was applying for which was great. But they didn't have a position available and I was told that my resume would be kept on file for 6 months. Does HR ever look through the past resumes in that time if a position ever comes up? Because realistically, it must be frusterating- esp if someone has a past resume on file and later on they're not in the job market or something. Should we call if we are?
Angie, if you know that would be great- sometimes I feel silly for not knowing.
Thanks a bunch!
Sunbear

[Unregistered]

Thanks to the HR person for the inside look into the biz. I do have some questions though:

1. Do the companies that post the same positions continuously for months, years at a time do this to give the appearance that they are doing well financially? I've heard this from many intellgent people so that's why I ask.

2. My first name can be a man or a woman's name, in order to play HR at their own game, should I also put my middle name (a very feminine name) on my resume so it doesn't go immediately to the shredder?

3. I'm Argentinian,but like many Argentines, my last name isn't Lopez or Rodriguez so when HR managers ask how I learned Spanish (job relevant), should I just say some from my family, the majority from school and travel?

I'm not saying #2 and 3 are necesarily playing fair, but neither is HR from the looks of it. Thank you!

[angiebabie1976]

Sunbear
I hope I will be able to answer all your questions. If you have more, please let me know. A lot of times, when companies post in the newspaper specifically, don’t want to list the whole entire job description or information because it costs so much to advertise. The more space you use on the paper, the more it costs. This is not the same when jobs are posted on the internet. They usually have no limit in wording and the cost is determined by how long you want the job posted. However, if a company posts a job on the internet not giving you specifics on title or job description, I might be careful. They might be either just posting to solicit resumes, or it’s some not so glamorous sales job trying to get people to call. Go ahead and send in your resume anyway, if they are interested in you, they will call. Besides that, I don’t know what else to tell you.
Your 2nd question I think is when you recently applied for a job and they responded immediately. Great! However, despite the fact that HR says they will keep your resume for 6th month and if a position becomes available, they will call you, don’t count on it. HR needs to keep your resume on file because it’s required by law to keep all resumes of candidates for a particular position for up to 2 years (I think). I have never seen HR go through past resumes to fill current positions. Personally, I have stopped saying that in my letter to avoid liability. I have heard in the past that companies been sued because they were initially told that a position was not available and that if a position comes up in the future that the candidate is suitable for, the company will call them. Well, it happened and the company never called. The candidate sued the company for discrimination or something like that and he won. Any case, getting back to your question. Don’t count on them to call you for a job, you need to follow up. Call them whenever you feel like following up and tell them that you were told that you will be considered for future openings and am just checking in to see if there’s anything available. However, don’t hold your breathe for them, keep looking. I can guarantee you that if you call them a couple of weeks later, they will have no memory of ever saying that to you. Anything else, please let me know and I will try my best to answer them.
Angela

[angiebabie1976]

1. I’m not sure about this. My company certainly doesn’t do that. Trust me, HR does not need to get more resumes than we currently do now. I do know that often times company will attend career fairs and other recruiting events despite the fact that they currently have no openings whatsoever. It is an advertising opportunity for companies to get their name out. However, I do admit that sometimes companies will post jobs to solicit resumes for a possible future opening. We currently have one right now.

2. I don’t feel you should be concerned about this. A company cannot discriminate against your sex, it’s against the law. You should be considered for the experience and skill set that you posses. I don’t understand why you feel your resume will go to the shredder just because your feel you might be mistaken for a man? ((Reality: I would actually think you’ll be more likely to be discriminated against if you are a woman).

3. Hmmm, this question is tricky. I think that it’s not necessary for the HR people to know how you learned Spanish but more like do you speak Spanish and how well you speak it. Then maybe have a brief conversation with you to test your level. However, if they do ask you that, and you don’t want to disclose that you are Argentinean, then just say that you picked up Spanish through travel and school, if that in fact, really did happen. However, if you feel concerned about being discriminated against just because you are Argentinean, then you have to ask if you really want to work for a company like that. They will definitely be violating the discrimination law if you are made to feel that way.

From the sound of things, you’ve had too many bad luck with ignorant HR people. If you feel that you are discriminated against because of your sex and your national origin, then I personally wouldn’t want you to work for that company anyway, because if anything were to happen to you during your employment, you will have no one to fight for you.

[sunbear]

Hi Angela.
It is so nice to hear it straight forward from someone who knows. Thank you!

[Unregistered]

It was really great to know so much thing inside HR.
I am a international student and having a question on emplyment status.
Month ago, I got an interview with a goverment organization. Everything went well, except a last question " are you authorized to work in US?" The first feeling to me is that they won't hire any foreign people. But I know that international student like us are entitled practical training which authorized us to work for any company in US for upto 1 year. So I answer 'yes'. But they followed up with a more 'precise' question: 'are you PR or citizin?' I felt angry about this. I think this is a discrimination. But I am not sure how should I tell them and defend myself in this kind of situation.
Angiebabie1976, do you have any idea about this kind of issue? Can I refuse to answer questions like this?

[tomato]

If you are here on a student visa and are entitled to receive practical training and work for a year in the US, then you should have documentation of that eligibility. If you are asked if you are a permanent resident or a citizen, you can simply reply that you are in the US on a student visa, and that you are legally eligible for employment, and supply the necessary documentation.

Every job application I have ever filled out has asked those questions. It's not discrimination; it's simply the law. You cannot work in the United States unless you are legally authorized to do so. If you *are* legally authorized to work, then you should have no problem with such questions.