CVs can be unfair. Should employers be impressed by 'presentation' when the real worth of applicants is whether they can do the job? Nowadays for public sector jobs and for graduate jobs, applicants are asked to fill in forms online which give them no freedom to produce fancy packages or long stories about themselves. Is the problem then solved? No! Recently young doctors just emerging from training had to compete to get limited jobs. The online application forms were unable to distinguish what really mattered in such complex and sophisticated work. The decisions based on computer applications to employ some of the newly-qualified young doctors and not others turned out to be a disaster.
All children in the upper years of school receive careers advice and guidance, both from specialist teachers in their school, and from a service run by local authorities which tries to help young people make the right choices about whether to continue in education or whether to seek a job, and if so with what sort of training. Among other possibilities, the government is encouraging the revival of apprenticeships in skilled trades. An apprentice works with a 'master' for several years, learning on the job. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters and so on need apprentices, and some of the costs of training them are paid for by the state.
Whatever the job, increasingly the first place to look is online. In Britain all jobs in the public sector must be advertised, and in the private sector, almost all jobs are advertised. The method of advertising will depend on the job. If a school wants a cook to help prepare the school dinners, a card will be put in the local Jobcentre and others in nearby shops, since those who might be interested must have a chance to know about the job. If a school wants a full-time teacher, the advertisement will be put online on the teachers' website, and in the 'professional' newspaper, The Times Educational Supplement. A date for applications must be given so that those who are suitably qualified know when and how they must apply.
Another way of finding a job is to apply to a specialised agencies. These agencies are now responsible for recruiting many people in areas such as catering, health workers, office jobs, building work, finance and so on. Agencies workers are usually part-time and expect to fill in gaps when the regular worker is away for some reason. They get paid well, but rarely develop a rich relationship with the company or organisation for which they are working.
When students graduate from university, they may be looking for a job which requires further training. In this case the first step is to get a place on a training course - and a grant or some other funds to pay for the course. (Such courses are essential for librarians, computer programmers, social workers, accountants, town planners and many other kinds of qualified workers.) Many organisations take graduates directly and train them while they are working - for example, the BBC and accounting firms. When university graduates apply for their first proper fulltime job they will face many competitors. With around 43% of the age group graduating and looking for interesting and well-paid jobs, it is standard practice to apply for many posts.
If many people apply for the same job, how is one person selected? The first person to read through the applications may be someone from the 'human resources' department. Then a committee from the organization, chosen to represent different interests and responsibilities read the applications and select maybe six applicants for interview. When making this 'shortlist' selection they have in mind the job description and the type of person required Their job is to identify the person who best fits this criteria. If the committee takes its responsibilities seriously, the members will be open-minded and ready to listen carefully to each candidate's answers to searching questions. The system is not perfect but corruption is unlikely simply because it is in the interests of the employers to select the best person for the job. In any case, employers must pay attention to Equal Opportunities legislation which means that they are not allowed to discriminate against a candidate on grounds of sex (women are as good as men), ethnic background, sexual orientation (they cannot discriminate against homosexuals) and, increasingly, age (an older person may be as good as a younger person.) If anyone can successfully show that he or she was rejected because of these criteria, the employer will be in serious trouble.
A good candidate will have done a lot of preparation, working out answers to likely questions, preparing a presentation, and - with many graduate jobs - being prepared to spend half a day 'shadowing' the present incumbent, so that the organisation can assess his or her suitability. The intelligent candidate will also have done some research on his potential employer. Some employers send out 'work-packs' to the candidates, giving them information about the company or organisation they are hoping to join. If no work-pack arrives, there is always the website to consult.
The common Russian practice of 'inviting' someone to join a team or a department or a company without this rigorous selection process is illegal in Britain for all jobs in the public sector; and it is extremely uncommon in the private sector.
Eventually someone will be selected. Once the fortunate candidate has signed the contract he cannot leave the job without giving notice (except during his first month) and he cannot be thrown out of the job without notice and without good reason. All the other candidates have to start looking elsewhere.
Let us imagine two university students who are about to complete their courses, Richard and Sophie. Richard is thinking about a career in administration. He would like to help organise and run something, but he isn't quite sure what that might be. He is about to graduate with a degree in economics, and he has taken a special computer course so that he understands more than basic computing. Each day he checks with the University Careers Advisory Service, searches online and downloads application forms. So far he has found twenty-five possible jobs: in banking, in local government service, and in one large and two small businesses in his home area. Usually, he has a brief reply, thanking him for the letter and saying that he has not been selected for the interview, but he today he is happy because he has just received two requests to go for interviews at a particular hour on a particular day.
One is for a banking job which looks quite exciting. It will mean special training, and then the opportunity to work on a partnership between the bank and a new regional industrial development. Richard has explained in his application that he had studied this new development in a special paper for his economics degree. But it turns out that most of those selected for interview have either had experience in similar work or else a better degree in economics than his own.
The other job involves training local government employees in computer techniques and in developing courses to help them. Of course he has special computing skills himself, and his tutor's reference says that he is methodical and well-organised. 'Hm,' says one of the three people interviewing him. 'You will be dealing with local government officials who have their own ideas about suitable training. There's a lot of personal relationships in this job, and sometimes they can be tricky, What, for example, would you do if someone complained that the old system was better?' Richard listens to the situation described. He can't imagine what he would do! He tries out an answer. It is obviously the wrong answer. He is asked a few more questions and then leaves. Another failure... And it is true that someone else is offered the job, but Richard is lucky because the successful candidate is a young woman who has changed her mind because she has just heard of a better job nearer her home for which she is very well qualified. So the job is offered to Richard who was the second choice of the board. He is very pleased though very nervous. Four other people are (this time) disappointed. But no matter, they must live with disappointment, and tomorrow they must get up and send off more applications. Richard has found employment after twenty-five applications and only two interviews. That's not bad. Now he hopes to find that the work is enjoyable, and he can, at least, start paying off his debts.