Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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Some advice I have learnt on the issue of CV’s relates to how some people email them out. Do not send your CV to multiple firms altogether in the same e-mail with all of the different firms being listed in the cc column, together with some nonsense about your desire to work for their “highly esteemed law firm”. It really comes across as a hit and miss approach, lacking sincerity and you will be lucky to get a reply if you copy 30 or 40 firms of attorneys at a time in your e-mail. I’ve had some CV’s that have included the names of firms that I certainly do not hold in high regard, and the covering e-mail is essentially now bundling me with them, and I find it irritating, but even if that were not the attitude of most people, nobody really feels inclined to reply to an e-mail (although we do) that has gone out to 60 firms all at the same time! While we try to reply to everyone who does write in, it is no wonder that most firms do not when the email comes addressed to 60 firms at once!
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Thursday 11-May-17
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Comments
Nicolle said:
on Monday 05-Jun-17 09:29 AM
As my Ouma always used to say: "Don't do it! DON'T DO IT!" It honestly screams: "I am unprofessional! So do not hire me!".
Cornelie said:
on Wednesday 31-May-17 03:06 PM
I agree also you will look a little desprate. It is not the way to do it you will make yourself look like an idiot if you cc a few companies and also the next company might think you have had an interview all ready and then you will loose out on an interview.
Sinead said:
on Wednesday 31-May-17 10:34 AM
This is possibly the stupidest thing to do. No one will take you seriously. You probably don't take yourself seriously either... Not only that, it is extremely unprofessional to cc anyone in your email. Unless it is the director or someone else in the same company/firm.
Brenda van den Bergh said:
on Friday 26-May-17 05:51 PM
It really is silly to send your cv out in a mass email. It sends the message out that you will always look for the quick and easy way out. i.e. you would rather send one email to everyone with the hopes that at least one of them will respond and get on your merry way. A person will never receive a phone call for a job interview as you have already given yourself a reputation that no one wants in their firm.
Melissa van Tellingen said:
on Friday 26-May-17 03:01 PM
I must agree with you in this Michael. It just shows you what type of person this guy is. It comes across as being very unprofessional and lazy. You defenitly would not want someone like that wporking for you at the firm.
Prishani said:
on Friday 26-May-17 09:06 AM
I think that by doing this the person is giving the impression that they are lazy and haven’t bothered or taken the time to draft an individual email to each firm or company. A covering letter or email should be unique to each firm or company you intend applying to. It shows that you have taken the time to draft individual emails instead of just one email with everyone copied in.
tersia said:
on Wednesday 24-May-17 09:32 AM
Some people are really stupid, why would you do that? It should be common sense to not copy in every firm that you are applying for in the same email. That just comes across as desperate. I know people struggle to find work, but if I was receiving your CV I really do not want to know that you have applied for a job at 60 other firms, I see it as someone else can respond so I would just ignore it.
brumilde said:
on Friday 19-May-17 02:34 PM
i agree, think , people will regard it as spam and no will not even have the courtesy of a reply, yes jobs are hard to come by, but making sure you look professional is only one aspect, you have to think of all implications of you sending your cv out to 40 people and they know about it that fact. makes you seem that you cant be hired.
Thabitha said:
on Wednesday 17-May-17 04:58 PM
People are so desperate to find job they end up messing up things, I will also be irritated especial if there is covering letter.
Brenda Du Toit said:
on Tuesday 16-May-17 09:34 AM
This is extremely unprofessional you cannot send your CV to 10 different people on one email.Take the time, personalize the email and send it to each company individually.
Jadine E said:
on Tuesday 16-May-17 08:41 AM
It is very unprofessional and lacks business ethic. Having regard to the person you address the email/cv to.
Suzanne said:
on Monday 15-May-17 01:12 PM
This is extremely unprofessional and I don't see how anybody can be taken seriously when doing this. Take the time, personalize the email, address the relevant person and you will already make a good first impression.
Bianca said:
on Monday 15-May-17 10:01 AM
Whenever I see this being done it amazes me! It is completely unprofessional and speaks volumes for the professionalism that the person lacks who is sending these e-mails to numerous firms/companies simultaneously. I honestly do not believe that they will be successful in their application at all as long as this is the style of applying for a position. Actions certainly do speak louder than words especially in this case.
Helen said:
on Monday 15-May-17 08:29 AM
How possible educated and cleaver potential employee can even have a thought to do something like this?! Today applying for the new job sending CV is not enough, successful candidate has to draw Covering Letter addressed to the chosen company and state the reasons why he/ she is applying for the position. Very embarrassing to send the CV this way!
Joyce said:
on Friday 12-May-17 05:53 PM
I think the attitude is not nice and is unprofessional, sending a message of undermining and having no respect to the receivers of the email. I think sending an email attached a CV is not just sending an email like any other emails.
Dune said:
on Friday 12-May-17 04:45 PM
I find this very unprofessional. But seems like that what people do these days, they are to lazy to resend the same email 10 times so they copy all 10 addresses in one mail. I find that in our department as well, when we have some client sending an inquiry they copy another 10 attorneys in the same email. Very unprofessional
Mathilda said:
on Friday 12-May-17 08:53 AM
I just see it as so unprofessional to Copy in 10 different firms you want to work for, If you really want to work for a specific law firm you do the effort to email them personally
Nikita said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 03:58 PM
I would imagine that people who do this are either still very young and it is their first job they are applying for or they are may be very desperate to find a job. Its a hard lesson to learn and hopefully people can learn from this advice.
Angelique Jurgens said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 02:57 PM
Proving that having a degree doesn't guarantee common sense. What an absolutely stupid, stupid thing to do. Truly how much time did that really save the candidate by doing that?
Jadine Richards said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 02:32 PM
I just think that that would be rude to include multiple firms in such an email. One should have enough respect to compose a new email. A job seeker cannot honestly expect to be given the time of day by a firm if they cannot take 5 minutes to send an individual email.
Jessica Apfel said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 01:28 PM
It seems a desperate attempt to 'spam' so many law firms. You will certainly not be taken seriously as it would seem as if you have not read up on that firm and do not possess a true desire to be employed at that firm! A job application is not a wishy-washy thing as it is the very first impression that you are portraying to that employee.
Jolene said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 01:25 PM
Your CV is your first impression, make sure it is a good one. If can’t even do the effort to email every firm individually, it already says a lot about you. I would get the impression that you are not a hard worker and will probably be someone that likes to take the easy route.
Melissa said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 10:41 AM
Wow, how can people do this? It is always better and more professional to send out your CV one by one.
Clare said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 10:20 AM
Really do people really do this I can not believe this however I have also seen that people have forward the CV to people and they don't client the little box on the message screen showing that they have emailed this email to so and so.. Also if you are working currently at a company they use there company email and leave the signature at the Bottom that isn't very good for you.
Michelle said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 10:10 AM
I can not believe that people will actually do that. If you apply at more than one company at the same time, most of them will assume that someone else will assist you. And at the end of the day you will still be unemployed, because a successful law firm will never give someone a work opportunity who keep their options open for something better.
Lucretia said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 10:10 AM
I find emailing many firms at the same time and letting all the firms see that you have emailed many firms tacky. If one is to apply to many companies, address a personal email to each of them. It may take time but it is way more professional to personalise each email and shows the kind of person you are as a worker.
Henrietta said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 09:52 AM
I also find this highly unprofessional, and agree with most here that you can do more effort if you want to see better result. I would also not take my time and waste it on a reply to such a person. Your covering letter and email should be about the company you applying for not hundred and then cross your finger that someone might take you. Do the effort and just maybe some effort will be done for you.
Zanell said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 09:46 AM
This is really not a good idea because when a firm phones you, you will have no idea who they are or what they do. I know a lot of candidate attorneys struggle to find jobs and probably do this because they are desperate and just couldn't care anymore.
Nina said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 09:38 AM
I also feel that it is very unprofessional. Rather just take the time to send out emails individually, even if it takes up a lot of your time. Chances are better of getting a reply or maybe an interview. Sending out one email to many different companies just comes across as lazy.
Daniella said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 09:33 AM
I don't understand why anyone would even think its okay to do that! Just take the time and type the email to each firm separately. Like how long could it honestly take? make it personal, make it seem like that is the only firm you want to be with, go that extra mile
Liz said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 09:16 AM
This is very true. By sending out a generic email and copying in any firm's email you can get your hands on , you are not sending out a good message. Many job hunters get desperate after a while and resort to this, however, this method will seldom result in getting an interview, let alone securing a position. I think that cover letters should be specific to the firm you are applying for, setting out the reasons why you would like to work for that particular firm and what makes them stand out from the rest for you.
Zindy said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 09:13 AM
It does seem some what unprofessional in my opinion, Your just sending in hopes that someone will take you also seems desperate and people could take advantage of that. Rather take the extra time and send your CV off to individual companies making them feel that you actually want to work for that specific company.
Ashleigh said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 08:56 AM
When people do something like this, I would tend to feel that they are desperate and just hoping that they hit a luck with one of the companies responding to them. It actually shows also that the person is not willing to be professional and put effort in addressing each email individually.
Alexis said:
on Thursday 11-May-17 07:42 AM
It would be best to just send emails out individually. If I came across that, I certainly would not be interested in the possible 'candidate'. People should ultimately make an effort
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!
