Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
Divorce, Maintenance, Personal Injury, Medical Negligence
We get a tremendous amount of CV’s, sometimes 5 to 10 a day, but very seldom less than 3 a day. I try to give all of them a reply and at least forward them to our HR department, but I must say that I am astounded sometimes at the quality of those CV’s. I am astounded by attorneys or would-be candidate attorneys who will address an e-mail to 30 firms all at once, list them all in the e-mail and then mention how much they would really like to work for the “prestigious firm” they are writing to.
It shows a lack of effort, and while it is certainly saving the person time, I am not really interested in an e-mail that has been sent to some firms that I do not consider prestigious at all, as well as to me. I am equally concerned about what I see in CV’s these days and that is a lot of job hoppers. The problem with job hoppers is they always have excuses as to why they have been through so many different firms before your firm and how they are going to stay with you, but invariably they go. When they go, your staff members look at you as if you are the problem, but they don’t have the background of having seen that person’s CV and seeing that the person really did not stay at any firm they were ever at. We probably all should invest more money into personality tests and spend more time on interviews before hiring people, but I have learnt that it is a waste of time to hire people who frequently move from one company to another and I like to look at people who have remained with a company for a long period – at least 5 years, if not more. There are so many people whose CV’s are littered with one firm after another where they have stayed either 6 months, 1 year or 2 years – and of course that is really illuminating.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Tuesday 22-Sep-15
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Comments
Cornelie said:
on Friday 16-Oct-15 12:00 PM
I agree your cv must look professional and not just a sloppy peace of paper and also job hopers is not the ideal person to hire they will definitely move on if things doesn't go their way.
Jolene said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 12:00 PM
Your CV is the first step to getting your foot in the door, if you dont put effort into your e-mails to individual firms, you are clearly not a hard worker and take the easy, short route.
Angelique said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 11:56 AM
I completely agree, a person who jumps from one job to another is not reliable. It's not a good look to other companies because why train someone when they are not going to even last? Either they get bored quickly or stay off often and start to become uncomfortable at their workplace. I cannot even believe someone would be that lazy to email every firm in one email - when they would like a director of a company to take the time to look at their CV! Another thing is that while you can have a similar cover letter you cannot apply at a law firm which specializes in Personal Injury matters yet your cover letter states you are so excited to learn more about corporate law/criminal law when the firm you are applying at doesn't even practice in those areas. You can have 4 degrees yet no skills or common sense when it comes to selling one self!
Prishani said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 11:18 AM
I think remaining with one company for a long period of time shows loyalty, and that is always a quality one wants to display on their CV.
Johann said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 10:21 AM
I remember sitting in during an interview once. The candidate started off the interview with a question - "so what type of law does your firm do?". It was quite a short interview after that.
Juliet said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 10:09 AM
Reading the other comments it is also important to accept that of course there are some people who just had bad luck. Like a school leaver who may start a job and not be paid for 4 months then she leaves to go to another job where the boss makes her work weekends without pay and it just leads to a circle of bad luck but in general, job stability is an attractive factor to an employer.
latoya said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 09:23 AM
Job hopping is not as good at all,People usually never last at one job not longer than a year due they not ready or might not like what they in,People spend a short period of me at one job cause they would like to gain experience specially the young people.
Zindy said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 09:20 AM
In my opinion some people are young and maybe have an opportunity they take up and are not satisfied with that career path, hence maybe the reason they only stay at a certain company for a limited time. If a person studies further after school they are more likely to stay at a job longer having studied certain subjects and knowing what industry or line of work they would like to pursue. As for Matric leavers that maybe do not know what they would like to do yet may accept a job to keep busy and learn and find out that that job is just not for them. I do agree that job hopping is not right but i also think taking certain aspects into consideration should be noted.
Alexis said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 09:10 AM
It does not look good to see that you cannot stay a a place for more than 6 mnths to two years. As Bianca stated, your CV is your own personal advert and how are you to be shown as reliable if you cannot prove your stability.
Kaylee said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 09:07 AM
How unprofessional! You simply cannot email your CV to numerous firms and expect the firm to contact you! I agree, good staff members are long standing and not the ones that jump from one job to another. I think 3-5 years is a good period to remain at one firm. I think that people also place a lot of irrelevant information into their CV's. They say that your CV should not be longer than six pages and by the time you are an attorney it doesn't really matter was non-legal related work you have done prior to becoming an attorney. I don't think your high school achievements have too much relevance either and those should be kept to a minimum. I think a cover letter isn't really that necessary either as that information would be conveyed during the interview.
Clare said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 09:01 AM
It is so hard to find a job today, Life is hard if you have a Job do your best to keep it. Job hopping in the end will become a thing of a past because you do not know what tomorrow will Bring. I also don't think Job hopping is good i think it gives you a hint of an unsettled person.
Juliet said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 09:01 AM
Having screened hundreds of CVs over the years and interviewed hundreds if people, one of the most important warning signs is a job hopper. In the recruitment industry they say a person is unstable if they have been at each company for two years of less. And it is really a reliable indicator of whether they will stay with your company for a long time or not. Of course there are always exceptions but this is a general rule. The other thing to look for is people who are willing to just resign and move to another company for an increase and the absolute worst type of person are the ones who then take the new offer to their current boss and basically demand an increase! We were always warned to look out for those
Juliet said:
on Tuesday 22-Sep-15 09:01 AM
Having screened hundreds of CVs over the years and interviewed hundreds if people, one of the most important warning signs is a job hopper. In the recruitment industry they say a person is unstable if they have been at each company for two years of less. And it is really a reliable indicator of whether they will stay with your company for a long time or not. Of course there are always exceptions but this is a general rule. The other thing to look for is people who are willing to just resign and move to another company for an increase and the absolute worst type of person are the ones who then take the new offer to their current boss and basically demand an increase! We were always warned to look out for those
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
