Application process: This is what you have to do

Author: Louise Ward
Date Of Creation: 5 February 2021
Update Date: 10 May 2024
Anonim
Application process: This is what you have to do - careers
Application process: This is what you have to do - careers

Content

The way to a new job is through a Application process. Before a decision is made, HR managers put every candidate to the test in order to find the best staff for the vacancy and to contribute to the success of the company by making the right personnel decisions. For you as a job seeker, this means that you first have to fight your way through a strenuous and sometimes lengthy application process in order to make it to your dream job. Your chances increase if you know what to expect and what is important in the individual stations - and also if you are prepared for possible difficulties and frustration triggers. Because even if the application process usually follows a similar pattern, there are many aspects that can annoy applicants ...

Application Process Definition: A brief explanation

The entire selection process for filling a position referred to in the company. This usually begins with the submission of the application documents and ends with the decision on hiring a candidate.


As Preparation for the application process the job to be filled is analyzed at the employer, a requirements profile is created and a job advertisement - internal, external or both - is placed in which the tasks, responsibilities, requirements and expectations of employees are announced.

Application procedure: The scope depends on the company and position

A phone call, a look at the application folder, maybe a short personal interview and you will hopefully be accepted. Some application processes work via the short official channels, while others are a veritable monster of bureaucracy that is built up over numerous stations.

Applicants usually want one if possible simple and quick application process - not surprisingly, who would like to be put to the test several times? In addition, with every new station in the selection process there is a risk of dropping out.


Whether you find yourself in an extensive application process or just go through a shortened version depends primarily on two factors: that Companies, to which you are applying and the positionthat you are striving for.

At large corporations or internationally active corporations are likely to have an extensive application process; in the case of small companies, the scope is significantly reduced.

If you are on higher positions apply, the process can be more extensive - but the quality of the application process certainly increases - the interviews and tasks become more challenging and you have to prove yourself all the more.

For positions that are very much many candidates apply, companies almost always resort to extensive procedures in order to gradually reduce the number of applicants.

How long does an application process take?

The longer the job search takes, the greater the problems for applicants can become. Not everyone is in permanent employment while they are looking for a new job and anyone who comes out of unemployment into an application process has the financial situation in mind. A little patience you have to bring them with you in any case, because overnight jobs are only given in rare exceptional cases.


Even the deadline that companies set in the job advertisement is several weeks - until even that further phases of the application process can begin, some time will pass accordingly.

Depending on which steps a company decides to take in the application process, several more weeks must be allowed for discussion rounds and decision-making. Normally, the duration of an application process should therefore not scheduled for less than two months tend to be longer.

However, a shorter duration is definitely possible, especially if a company has a Fill vacancies as soon as possible would like to.

Application process: You have to survive these stations

An application process is not a sprint, but rather a hurdle race in which you have to overcome various stations in order to get to the goal. In the following listing we have the typical sequence of an application process divided into the individual phases:

  • Initial selection of the application documents

    The application process begins with submitting your cover letter, CV and other documents to the employer. This can be done traditionally via the post, but many companies are now using online applications. In this first step, the majority of the applicants are sorted out and receive a rejection.

    To have a chance, your qualifications must match the requirements and expectations and you must make it clear in your application what benefits you can bring to the company. Here the first favorites of HR professionals can already emerge, which after the first analysis best fit the position and the company.

    Far more than half of the applicants do not make it through this first point in the application process, often it is even 75 percent or even more who are not considered for the position. That sounds tough - and it is - but this is the only way to make a more precise selection of sometimes hundreds of applications.

  • Telephone interview

    If you have made it to the next round of the application process, a telephone interview may be pending. Not every employer does this, but they have become established in larger companies in particular and you can expect to be invited to a phone call.

    In this you can reinforce your positive impression by reacting correctly to the questions and showing that you fit into the team with both your skills and your personality.

    Your voice is a decisive factor, practice a calm, but at the same time motivated and enthusiastic tone in advance. You don't want to sound bored, overly nervous, or excited.

  • Personal interview

    In a personal interview, you sit face to face with the HR manager. For many applicants, the nervousness increases again, but at the same time you have the chance to present yourself from your best side again. During the interview you can present yourself, but you also have to answer a few questions that your interlocutor would like to use to find out more about you, your way of working and your personality.

    You should also be prepared not just to have a one-to-one conversation, but to sit across from a panel. In addition to the HR department, there is often a representative of the area for which you are applying, a works council member and possibly the company's equal opportunities officer.

    Preparation is particularly important for this part of the application process; you shouldn't be caught off guard by typical job interview questions, but should be able to answer confidently and confidently.

  • Assessment center

    Similar to the telephone interview, the assessment center is not necessarily part of the application process. It is a series of tests and personnel selection tasks that take place on one or often two days in a row.

    Parts of the assessment center are tasks that you have to solve alone or in a group. In addition, interviews and discussions are held during this selection process. It is an exhausting and stressful situation for applicants, as they are under observation all the time and face direct comparison with other candidates.

  • Final selection

    The application process ends when the company makes the final decision on a candidate. Based on the documents and impressions that were collected in the previous phases, HR managers get the most accurate picture possible of each applicant and select the one who, in their opinion, is best suited and can contribute to the success of the company.

    In some cases, there are further rounds of talks before the selection, which extends the application process. As a candidate, you will find out about the decision either in writing or by telephone.

Application process: what annoys applicants the most

An application process is always exhausting, after all, you go with it high hopes approach the matter, go to great lengths and spend hours or days submitting documents, preparing discussions and having them.

Candidates know, of course, that not every application can work - this understandably still causes frustration at the missed opportunity, but it will pass again. There are, however some factors in the application process, which almost all applicants find incredibly annoying and annoying and which have caused quite a few outbursts of anger:

  • Difficult application

    Some companies have understood how to make it as easy as possible for potential employees to submit an application. A clear homepage, a few clicks and the documents are uploaded and sent to the employer. Unfortunately, there is also the exact opposite: application pages that are so complicated that you need a separate course of study in order to understand them and to submit the application. That costs a lot of time that could be put to much better use.

  • Unrealizable expectations

    Employers like to look for the so-called egg-laying woolly milk sow in job advertisements. A candidate who simply has everything.Well educated, young and flexible, just fresh out of university, but please with at least five years of professional experience and a stay abroad. Applicants inevitably feel that they are not good enough and that they have no chance in the job market when they have to meet such unrealistic expectations.

  • Stress issues

    Applicants are tested in the interview, some HR managers go particularly far and torment their interlocutors with stressful questions. As the name suggests, these are specially designed to throw candidates off the concept and unsettle them. From the HR manager's point of view, this may provide interesting insights, applicants usually only react with anger at the provocative or simply unsolvable questions.

  • Overqualification

    We are very sorry, but unfortunately you are overqualified for the advertised position. Such cancellations are common and while they emphasize qualifications, they are of no consolation. Not getting a job because you're too good? This conclusion can usually not be drawn. However, you can be overqualified, which is why companies fear that the tasks are too boring for you and that you will quickly reorient yourself.

  • Missing feedback

    By far the most annoying bad habit for applicants, which unfortunately occurs at many companies, is the complete lack of feedback. Application documents have been submitted, there may even have been a confirmation of receipt and then you won't hear anything at all. Two weeks go by, four weeks pass and there is no trace of a statement on the status of the application or even a rejection. Employers who don't get in touch are extremely annoying to applicants who don't know what to expect.