The average Kenyan graduate will send out about 70 CVs when looking for their first job in Kenya. Of these, the average number of responses will be 7 including 3 to 4 polite rejections and the remainder inviting the job seeker to interview or further contact.
There was a direct link between the number of CVs sent out and the number of interviews gained: the more CVs you send out the more interviews you will get.
Applicants who included a covering letter with their CV were 10% more likely to get a reply.
60% of CVs are mailed to the wrong person: usually the managing director. Applicants who addressed their application to the correct named person were 15% more likely to get a letter of acknowledgment and 5% more likely to get an interview
Applicants sending CVs and letters without spelling mistakes are 61% more likely to get a reply and 26% more likely to get an interview. “In the age of the spell checker, there is no excuse for spelling mistakes”. The most common mistakes to not show up in a spell check were: fro instead of for, grate instead of great, liased instead of liaised and stationary instead of stationery.
Set your spell checker to UK English or you will get center instead of centre, and color instead of colour.
Other turn-offs include:
Ø Misspelling the name of the company or the addressee.
Ø Not having a reply address on the CV.
Ø Trying to be amusing.
Have a careful day and error free day
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