Day 20: Why I never copy and paste my Selection Criteria ever again
Previously, I would copy and paste my selection criteria or the cover letter (at least) for similar roles that I apply in a brief period of time. I never realised how detrimental it is to my profile until I work full time.
When we are in that crazy job application period of time, it seems like quantity is more important than quality. All I wanted to do is “get myself out there.” As a university student, most of my experience comes from hospitality and occasional internships. So I didn’t think I have anything to include in my response to the selection criteria or cover letter. When I interned at a recruitment firm, I was told not to copy and paste your previous selection criteria in any future job applications. I didn’t understand too much because my primary role is to screen applicants based on their CVs. So I don’t even read their response to the selection criteria. But now that I need to write a response to the selection criteria to my desired job, I understand why I shouldn’t copy and paste. This is primarily to avoid any chances of not addressing the selection criteria of the new role. Even though the job title is similar or even identical, different companies exist for a reason — because they are different. This means that the roles are different. If they are not different, why would they exist? Thinking it from a simple economic view, unless they drive their profit down to capture more consumers, they cannot exist if they provide identical services but at a similar or higher cost.
But we are humans, so we are lazy. How do you avoid this laziness? It comes to some perspective shift:
A) Effort is required to apply for a job you desire — just like working towards success, if you don’t put in any hard work, why do you think you deserve this job opportunity? In such a competitive society now, you will be eliminated. Don’t try to copy and paste from different samples from the Internet too. It’s easy to spot writing style differences when people read your response to the selection criteria.
B) Writing is a time for reflection — It’s only when you have to write a response to the selection criteria that you actually reflect what you did in your job. If you are feeling lost in a job and wanting a change of environment, producing a response to the selection criteria from scratch could clear your mind up.
C) It points out areas you needed knowledge in — Similar to the above point, only through writing you know how much you don’t know about your job and the organisation. I am a strong advocate of learning everywhere I go. This world has so much knowledge that no one can “know it all.” But that should not stop you from learning. The more you know, the better job prospects you have.
Good luck with your job applications!
