The way we apply for jobs is changing. More and more savvy employers are turning to the web these days to do their recruitment. The benefits to these savvy recruiters are enormous: it’s cheaper and sometimes even free, they can have shorter recruitment cycles, and services like JobsInGhana.com give recruiters great tools as well as access to a library of resumes to just pick from, without even placing an ad.

Even though I’m not an HR guy, I’ve been involved in recruitment drives for several small technology firms in Ghana — all of them through the Internet. And I’ve seen some potentially smart Ghanaian professionals do some really dumb things in their applications. On a couple of occasions (when I’ve had too much chocolate!) I’ve had to call applicants and guide them to properly re-submit their applications.

If you’ve been sending online applications but have never gotten any invitations for interviews, perhaps it’s time to sit back and ponder over what pitfalls you’ve been falling into, and how to void them to improve your chances of getting those needed invitations for interview. Here are the ten common pitfalls I’ve seen over the years, along with suggestions on how to avoid them. Read the rest of this entry »