Creating 3000 Profiles!

So I'm just a little curious. I've been perusing the various job sites looking for all things networking related and there's a common trend that I'm seeing that's becoming a bit annoying.

Every position that I'd like to apply for requires that I sign up to their site and create a 10 page profile. What ever happened to sending a cover letter and a resume without creating an entire profile for one job? I find this a bit extreme and very unnecessary.

Does any one know what happened and why this seems to now be the norm? Do all IT jobs now run through recruiters? Is it a spam thing? I'm just a bit curious and a tad frustrated.

Thanks for reading my rant.

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Comments

networker050184

It is pretty annoying. I guess companies like to keep a database of talent which is why they make you fill out a profile.

cyberguypr

I made my peace with it as there's no way around it. Look at it from their standpoint. Would you rather have everything standardized and centralized or go through dozens or hundreds of resumes with different formats and possibly incomplete info?

pham0329

Yea, I hate those...that's why I mainly go through Craigslist or recruiting agency. What's worse than creating those profiles, is having to create login for each site...

Everyone

The most annoying thing is that a lot of them make you copy and paste your resume into a form field, so it gets all jacked up. Some of them are letting you attach a Word document or PDF file now at least.

At least with the bigger companies, you can use the same profile to apply to multiple positions. You could do the same with smaller companies, but they are less likely to have more than 1 position you'd be interested in/qualified for.

Some of the big companies (like Microsoft) that I applied to in the past, still send me job alerts when new jobs open up that match my profile.

Devilry

It is pretty irritating, I usually use a jobs dedicated email account, so at least I am not getting spammed more than normal that way.

Devilsbane

And some of the sites are broken, it is really annoying. At the place I work you have to create a profile and apply on their website, and that isn't even the official application. If the interview goes well then they give you a paper application which is the official thing. Doesn't make sense to me

N2IT

Devilsbane wrote: »

And some of the sites are broken, it is really annoying. At the place I work you have to create a profile and apply on their website, and that isn't even the official application. If the interview goes well then they give you a paper application which is the official thing. Doesn't make sense to me

I found this to be true on more than one website. For about a month I was just putting N/A in all the fields without constraints and the first answer in drop downs or fields with constraints. This includes not listing degrees or certs. All I would do is upload my cover letter and resume and still received several calls back w/ interviews. Unless the job is a 90% match of what I want to do with requirements I give them nothing except the resume and cover letter. Time is too precious to waste filling out those on line applications.

Akaricloud

I was just recently applying for a job and after filling out 10 pages of boxes about my resume they wanted a 2-page essay, real cover letter and resume, 3 references that would fill out their form and fax it in, 3 letters of recommendation addressed to them, 5 references, plus official high school and college transcripts.

After it kicked me out for taking too long and wanted me to start over I gave up. The position has been open and unfilled for ~4 months... -Now I know why.

cyberguypr

Akaricloud wrote: »

I was just recently applying for a job and after filling out 10 pages of boxes about my resume they wanted a 2-page essay, real cover letter and resume, 3 references that would fill out their form and fax it in, 3 letters of recommendation addressed to them, 5 references, plus official high school and college transcripts.

After it kicked me out for taking too long and wanted me to start over I gave up. The position has been open and unfilled for ~4 months... -Now I know why.

Too far. Was this a very high profile position?

Akaricloud

No, it really wasn't. I'm half tempted to try again since I doubt they'll get any other applicants but I don't think I want to work for a company like that.

Devilsbane

Akaricloud wrote: »

No, it really wasn't. I'm half tempted to try again since I doubt they'll get any other applicants but I don't think I want to work for a company like that.

Company might not be bad, might have just implemented something and never looked at it to find out how dumb it is.

N2IT

Akaricloud wrote: »

I was just recently applying for a job and after filling out 10 pages of boxes about my resume they wanted a 2-page essay, real cover letter and resume, 3 references that would fill out their form and fax it in, 3 letters of recommendation addressed to them, 5 references, plus official high school and college transcripts.

After it kicked me out for taking too long and wanted me to start over I gave up. The position has been open and unfilled for ~4 months... -Now I know why.

In this extreme situation I would fill out the initial profile with contact info etc and then just skip to the resume part where you upload your resume and cover letter.

thenjduke

I honestly hate them. I am sorry but I do not have that kinda of time to just fill out forms. I wish someone would write a program and just fill them auto

MentholMoose

The thing that really annoys me is that many companies use SaaS HR systems, yet you still have to create a separate profile for every company! I seriously have dozens of profiles just on BrassRing/Kenexa and ADP/apply2jobs. It would be a major time saver to be able to reuse those profiles.

coty24

N2IT wrote: »

In this extreme situation I would fill out the initial profile with contact info etc and then just skip to the resume part where you upload your resume and cover letter.

In my current job I filled out all those forms, then I get a phone call later out the same job I applied for and they said they didn't even read those submissions. Sucks man

N2IT

coty24 wrote: »

In my current job I filled out all those forms, then I get a phone call later out the same job I applied for and they said they didn't even read those submissions. Sucks man

I would make the assumption that this happens more times than not.

djfunz

Well, it appears I'm not the only one running into this annoyance. I think based on the responses here, I'm going to upload the resume and cover letter and let them do the talking for me. The rest of the fields are going to be first available answer or not filled out at all. The worst part about it has been confirmed by the others here as well. The submissions are not even reviewed. Just a big waste of time which we could be using to study.

N2IT

djfunz wrote: »

Well, it appears I'm not the only one running into this annoyance. I think based on the responses here, I'm going to upload the resume and cover letter and let them do the talking for me. The rest of the fields are going to be first available answer or not filled out at all. The worst part about it has been confirmed by the others here as well. The submissions are not even reviewed. Just a big waste of time which we could be using to study.

I just want to be clear on my opinion. If the job is a "dream" job then play by the rules, make sure you fill out the fields correctly. If the job is middle of the road and you are just "fishing", then use the first answer strategy. Again this is just my opinion.

Good luck

instant000

djfunz wrote: »

So I'm just a little curious. I've been perusing the various job sites looking for all things networking related and there's a common trend that I'm seeing that's becoming a bit annoying.

Every position that I'd like to apply for requires that I sign up to their site and create a 10 page profile. What ever happened to sending a cover letter and a resume without creating an entire profile for one job? I find this a bit extreme and very unnecessary.

Does any one know what happened and why this seems to now be the norm? Do all IT jobs now run through recruiters? Is it a spam thing? I'm just a bit curious and a tad frustrated.

Thanks for reading my rant.

1. I actually thought this post was about needing a script to create a bunch of user profiles

2. I've NEVER gotten a job where I applied through a company's site.

3. careerbuilder.com and monster.com are sufficient. Other than that, you can get jobs through word-of-mouth.