Well, first of all we threw at least half out because even their covering letters were unintelligible. Here are a few examples - and these were the better ones left after initial weeding out by the NGO:
I have a strong passion and curiosity to Mental Diesease studies in South Africa. I want to be in an enviroment that enables me to gain indepth exposure to this phenomena through means of researching and being apart of raising awareness to Mental Diseases in South Africa.
I believe I do possess the skills that is required for the position of Media Liasion within...
I have work for gauteng office of the premier
I am with sound understanding of journalism gained through academic and working experience, combined with outstanding communication, research, analytical and administrative skills.
Please attached receive my CV I am confident I am in great position to assume this responsibility and utilize my previous experience in managing a successful brand.
And on and on they went. Then there were the covering letters which told us how wonderful the candidates were. We had phrases such as 'I'm a really talented.... I'm a dynamic individual with... Your organisation really needs me...
The one that wins the prize for irony stated: 'I Have a real eye for detail...
And then there were several that were obviously seeking completely different jobs - "I should be very grateful for the opportunity to progress to graphic journalist'???
Finally the numbers were whittled down to a handful of real prospects. I must say here that we had some outstanding applications, but as this is an NGO the salary sadly didn't match their expectations.
The day of the interviews came and out of the six we had lined up four cancelled, two asking for later dates - really???
Now as for the actual interviews rather than give you a rundown of what happened, let me give you a few tips:
• Dress appropriately - low cut tops, micro-mini skirts and torn jeans and takkies not so good
• Enter the interview room with confidence and a broad smile
• Shake hands with conviction - limp, wet fish handshakes say a lot about you
• Find out just what the organisation is all about before the interview - it has a website!
• Bring examples of your work (in the case of media) with you
• When the interviewer asks if you have any questions don't sit there looking dumb
So who got the job? Our last interviewee - a young woman with a strong media background who walked through the boardroom door with a huge smile, a firm handshake and energy pulsing out of her. She'd read the job specification properly, knew all about the organisation and was thoroughly prepared for the interview.
What this exercise sadly showed is how many people out there need jobs in the media but it also shows the weaknesses in skills needed for these jobs. What's going wrong? Many of these applicants had honours degrees plus other qualifications. Something is wrong in the state of media...
