It's official. I've been chased by a hunter, a job hunter, I
mean. I have been a Brussels-intern for more than a year now. I've worked
with different European, pan-European, international and multinational
organisations and part of my job has always been monitoring the general email
account of these organisation. You cannot imagine how much fun this could be!
Especially, if you're lucky, just as I was. Throughout my internships, I have
been able to follow up on the career advancement (or the lack of it) of a
certain candidate, whose CV I have personally received more than 10 times. It's
the perfect example of how you'll never land a job. Not only in Brussels.
It was also an
excellent example of a bad CV, or what's even more disturbing, a good profile
with a very lousy CV. Decent education, remarkable experience, excellent
language skills and all that presented in a boring, ugly Europass
format. A couple of months later, I have received an updated version of
the CV. This time no Europass format, yet a screaming inability to hyperlink,
describe a job in less than 1 page or begin a sentence with anything but
"I".
The second reason
why this candidate will never get a job this way is because (s)he is not
reaching HR at all. Sending your CV to the first random email address that you
come across, is not really a good strategy. It's no strategy at all.
Last but not
least, sending a spontaneous application requires more research than applying
for a vacancy. Write a motivation letter, show why you want to work for this
company, how you will be an asset to them.
"Dear
[organisation], In annex I send you my Curriculum, CV for position you
will evaluate"
Well, my dear,
guess what? I am not the one "evaluating" neither CVs, nor positions. If I were the
one, I would have "evaluated" one for myself a long time ago. And
your CV is nothing but junk mail.
