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A Critical Evaluation Of The Quantity And Quality Of Blue Collar Workers’ Job Applications
Research Project
Author : Wessel Appel
Executive Summary
Blue collar workers accounts for a third of the workforce in Australia. This category of the country’s workforce also have the most hands-on and manual labour workers. Due to numerous economy and social reasons or factors, the blue collar workers will also have to apply for jobs during their careers. Resumes form the basis of job applications. The research objective of this report is to identify if blue collar workers’ resumes are keeping up with the recruitment requirements of the relevant industry. This research also will establish what level of support the recruitment agencies and employers are offering blue collar workers with their job applications. Surveys containing specific tailored closed questions were directed to recruitment agencies and employers managing their own recruitment to establish the current quantity and quality of applications they are receiving from blue collar workers. The surveys also aim to determine the extent of support and guidance the applicants are provided prior the launch of their applications. The research identified that significant gaps are indeed present in the quality of blue collar job applicants’ resumes, but also a very limited effort from the side of recruiters and employers to address these gaps. In conclusion this study also found that blue collar workers need to seek assistance with their job applications to improve their chances of securing jobs.
Contents
Recruitment and selection defined. 8
Blue collar workers’ résumés. 9
Quality of blue collar workers’ job applications. 10
Research methodology of data collection. 11
Procedures for the surveys. 13
Data analysis: Research findings of the surveys. 13
Additional questions in the recruitment agencies’ survey. 18
Appendix A – Recruitment Agents: Survey Questions and Results. 28
Appendix B – Direct Employers: Survey Questions and Results. 30
Introduction:
‘The Australia’s unemployment rate increased to 6.4 per cent in July 2014 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (Labour Force, Australia, Jul 2014). A business reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald, Business Day has reported on the 7th August 2014 that the unemployment has jumped to the highest level in more than ten years (Mason 2014).
This is very bad news in particular for the already unemployed, blue collar workers, the graduates, the older workers and people who want change their employment or careers. Consequently this means that employers and recruitment agencies have to deal with a rapid growing number of applications against a shrinking number of available positions. The high level of unemployment also results in applicants applying for and willing to accept those jobs which may be categorised as suitable for workers with less experience, less skills and lower qualification levels. ‘…according to critics, some highly qualified workers have been pushed into simple, low-level jobs’ (Spitz 1992). The high unemployment rate is causing a skills surplus against a lower demand for skills due to weaker local economic activities. This should lead to the calibre of job applicants to be much higher and that will benefit employers now have the opportunity to choose from a larger and better skills bank.
The prospect or gain for employers in this circumstance should be higher productivity, lower costs and decrease in resource waste. Evidence does not support this conclusion but rather gives us the opposite, namely a decline in productivity. According to the Australian Government Productivity Commission 2014 edition of the PC Productivity Update, the Chairman of the Productivity Commission stated that rate of decline in productivity, across manufacturing, appears to be slowing (PC Productivity Update 2014).
To determine the calibre of job applicants and the status of the skills on offer, this research focuses on the quantity and quality of blue collar workers’ job applications and in particular providing a critical evaluation of the quality and acceptability of résumés according to blue collar workers’ recruiters and employers. The purpose of the research is to gain insight into the standard of these workers’ job applications as received by recruiters. The relevant recruiters refer to in this report includes both recruitment agencies and employers who manage their own direct recruitment.
The higher the unemployment, the more applications are received for a position which increase the competitiveness of job seekers:
Today, an average of 250 résumés or applications are received for each job posted. With ultimately only 4 to 6 people typically asked to interview for a job, …. One job seeker out of 50 will be invited to interview, and only one in 250 may receive a job offer. (‘How To Stop Playing Résumé Roulette’ 2014)
This research also will investigate if the relevant recruiters actively contribute to the improvement or rectification of any already identified shortcomings and gaps that may exist in the job applications as presented by blue collar workers.
Already in 2006, David Koeppel, a New York-based journalist, has investigated and established the need for proper résumés by blue collar workers (Koeppel 2006). Marc Sampson founder and CEO of Industry People Group Inc in 1997, has stated that blue collar workers need to upgrade their credentials, improve skill training, get certifications and ensure it is all on paper (Koeppel 2006). With the ramifications of the global financial crisis (GFC) which was picking up momentum in 2007 to 2008, it has undoubtedly contributed to the importance of blue collar workers attending to their résumés for they were losing their jobs.
‘… the adjustment to an economic downturn may take the form of lower profit shares or bonuses for a firm’s white-collar staff, while blue-collar workers are more likely to lose their jobs’ (Groshen et al. 1992).
Comparing this abovementioned research by David Koeppel, with the research in this report, it is important to determine the differences in order to expose or identify if any progress that has been achieved in addressing the issue. The determination of the progress, if any, is important, for that will give an indication of the commitment of stakeholders to address the identified issues with blue collar workers’ job applications.
This research will also present an opportunity to blue collar workers to get overall comments as to how recruiters experience their job applications in terms of relevancy and also the completeness of their applications.
Sections in this report explain the methodology used to evaluate the research questions and the method of gathering of information. This report provides detailed results of the research and concludes with recommendations to parties relevant to the subject and or question addressed.
Background
Due to the recent Global Financial Crisis and other economic factors, a larger number of blue collar workers and other workers, who have had the same job for decades, found themselves to be now unemployed. Liebermann et al. (2013) found that younger blue collar workers expectations depends on the job demand, while the older blue collar workers based their expectations mostly on their health. Therefor the reasons for remaining in the job, differs significantly. Workers are also postponing retirement and keep working past official retirement age. The changes in labour demand have been met by important shifts in the supply of labour. In particular, workers over 55 years have contributed one-third of all labour force growth in the last decade, reversing several decades of declining participation. (‘Recent Changes in the Labour Market’ 2005). Suddenly they will need to have an applicable and updated résumé to apply for the small number of available jobs.
“Blue-collar occupations in this review refer to the following major groups of the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations: tradespersons; plant and machine operators, and drivers; and labourers and related workers. These major groups are predominantly associated with trades and lower-skilled jobs that are often physical”. (Australian Social Trends, 1997)
With this definition of blue collar occupations by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in mind, the assumption can be strongly negotiated that the majority of these blue collar workers probably have not concentrated on the creation and regular update of their individual résumés. In the past the demand for blue collar workers may have exceeded the supply by far and résumés in this occupation group were therefor not regarded as such a priority and did not require a high level of attention and industry correctness.
‘Blue-collar jobs refer to occupations requiring skilled labour, often manual and industrial in nature. In Australia, these include the categories of skilled labourers (ex. from diggers to and blasters), tradies (ex. from builders to technicians), plant operators, miners, and drillers’ (Tunstall 2014).
The high unemployment rate has triggered a higher supply of and lower demand for blue collar workers and this resulted in competition in securing employment to be much more intense. The résumés have to be better and more job specific, in order for applicants to be considered as potential candidates for jobs. ‘The résumé is one of the most important aspects of a job search (Ross & Young, 2005) and is viewed as a powerful tool to market a student to a potential employer (Shakoor, 2001)’ (cited in Tillotson et al 2012). Résumés are being used as the measurement tool against the job description, job requirements and the selection criteria. ‘The reader will probably spend 20 seconds or less screening your résumé, so you need to focus his or her attention quickly.. ‘(‘Résumé and cover letter writing tips’ 2004).
However, the question is, how good, how professional, how realistic and how applicable are the résumés of the applicants in relation to the standards of the employers and or recruitment agencies? How accurate or favourable are the applications, when compared with the job requirements and job specifications?
However, research suggests that employment recruiters often look beyond the objective data presented in résumés. They also make inference about subjective information such as dispositional characteristics and person-job fit. ‘This is problematic, since the reliability and validity of assessing personality characteristics from résumé content are generally low’ (Wright et al. 2011).
Do some of the best candidates then indeed fall through the cracks due to poorly written résumés which lack the necessary detail? Is this not even more evident with applicants who have language, literacy and numeracy limitations? Will only applicants with professionally written résumés be successful in securing the jobs? ‘A good résumé tells your story and sells you, but a flawed résumé can sink you chances of getting a job’ (‘Common Résumé Pitfalls and How to Avoid them’ 2014).
Recruitment and selection defined
Noe et al. (2013 p.87) stated that recruitment is the process through which organizations seek applicants for potential employment. Of more importance to this report, is the selection of the job applicants. ‘Selection refers to the process by which it attempts to identify applicants with the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that will help the company achieve its goals’ (Noe et al. 2013, p.87).
Job Applicants use Résumés
‘Job applicants use résumés to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personal characteristics to recruiters, through education and job-related or non-job-related experiences’(Roulin et al. 2013). Therefore recruiters and employers will assess the job applicants’ résumés as part of their selection process to identify most suitable applicants. Fisher et al. (1998, p.343) confirm that most organizations use résumés to screen out applicants who do not meet the minimum job specifications and résumés represent the first hurdle for most jobs. Blue collar workers who are applying for positions need to have résumés as their primary tool of marketing themselves or media of demonstrating their knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics to recruiters. A poorly written résumé will likely end up in a file, or worse yet, in the trash. ‘You want to be certain that your résumé sells you effectively and helps you get selected for an interview’ (‘Résumé and cover letter writing tips’ 2004).
Blue collar workers’ résumés
This report has already presented the evidence that as part of the job application process, blue collar workers need résumés. The goal of any job applicant is to be successful in their job application. The selection of the potential candidates will primarily be determined by how effective or successful their résumés could be mapped to reflect the job requirements. ‘A résumé is a selling tool that outlines your education, skills, and experience’ (‘Résumé and cover letter writing tips’ 2004).
Quality of blue collar workers’ job applications
The next stage is to do a critical evaluation of the quality of blue collar workers’ job applications. Almost all applicants will declare that their applications are complete, accurate and professional. They regard themselves to be the best candidate for the positions which they applied for. Experience is the most important section of a résumé. ‘Recruiters will scan the headings to see what jobs are relevant and then read the bulleted points to find out what the applicant did’ (‘Résumé and cover letter writing tips’ 2004).
In order to get an indication of how applicable, accurate and comprehensive the applications of blue collar job applicants are, we will need to direct attention to the recruiters. They are responsible for the screening of applications. They are the recipients of job applications also from blue collar workers and they do the mapping of the applications with the employers’ requirements. Nigel Ward (2012) stated that most jobs were over-sold to applicants and that recruiters should provide timely feedback to candidates about the recruitment process and what the next steps are in that process.
Research Questions
In order to determine the standard and quality of the blue collar workers’ résumés, this report concentrates on two key research aspects or question groups:
- To what extent do the résumés of applicants of blue collar jobs address the selection criteria of the available vacancies/jobs and what are the standard of the résumés?
- Do the recruiters provide any application tools, assistance or feedback to blue collar job applicants prior and post their applications?
Research methodology of data collection
A survey was used as research strategy. Saunders et al. (2009, p.176) state that the survey strategy is popular and common strategy and is most frequently used to answer ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘where’, ‘how much’, and ‘how many’ questions. By using this form of closed questions, the survey allows for the collection of quantitative data and gives the researcher more control over the research process. ‘In addition, data collected using a survey strategy can be used to suggest possible reasons for particular relationships between variables and to produce models of these relationships’ (Saunders et al. 2009, p.177). Furthermore, a survey is most applicable in this research strategy, for there is not a wide-range of questions needed in this research.
Surveys
Two surveys with different questions were designed to gather mainly quantitative research data. The first survey was directed to recruitment agencies who specialise in blue collar workers recruitment to not only gather quantitative data by asking ‘how many’, but also get a professional opinion indication in the format of ‘agree to disagree’ to certain statements . The second survey went to employers who manage their own recruitment of blue collar workers. They were not asked for professional opinions, but questions were only to gather quantitative data. See appendix A and B for the survey questions. These surveys were designed after informal telephone conversations with five randomly selection local recruitment agencies and a representative of (RCSA) Recruitment and Consulting Services Association – Australia and New Zealand. (Recruitment and Consulting Services Association Australia and New Zealand 2012)
Participant selection
The first survey respondents in this research were reasonably representative by being registered with RCSA as recruitment agencies specialising in blue collar worker recruitment. A total of 134 recruitment agencies were contacted and requested to complete the survey online. These recruitment agencies were selected to represent the prominent business regions in Australia.
For the second survey respondents a total of 47 organisations who are employing blue collar workers and who are managing their own recruitment were requested to complete the survey. These respondents were selected from results in employment searching tools on the internet.
Procedures for the surveys
The survey to the recruitment agencies consisted of seven questions. These questions were designed gather the following information:
- average application numbers per advertised blue collar worker vacancy,
- percentage of the applications which have included all required documents and addressed the vacancy selection criteria
- indication of the overall standard of applications referring to requested documentation
- if the recruiter provide any pre-application assistance & application tools
- average standard in use of grammar and understanding of the terminology
- if the applicants may disadvantage themselves with incomplete or substandard applications
- if applicants could benefit from professional assistance with their job application preparation
The survey to the employers who manage their own recruitment, contained the first five questions similar to that the survey to the recruitment agencies. Seeing that these respondents are not qualified recruiters, the survey did not request the two opinion based questions.
In both surveys, an explanatory e-mail accompanied the request to participants in the survey. The surveys were managed via an online survey generator and administrator who could ensure the participating respondents remained anonymous and therefore minimizes the temptation to manipulate the answers provided.
Data analysis: Research findings of the surveys
The two surveys were directed to the two different category respondents. Recruitment is a core business function of the one type respondent and a business supporting function of the second type respondent. The survey measurements and the primary questions were the same. This way any bias answers from either respondent would have been more easily identified. The additional questions to the recruitment agencies have merit for it is based on their professional opinion.
In the next section of this report the focus will be on the survey questions and a composition of the responses received form the respondents. Of the 134 recruitment agencies contacted, 32 percent responded and of the 47 organisations contacted who are employing blue collar workers, 41 percent have completed the survey. (In this section employers who manage their own recruitment are only referred to as employers).
Question 1
This question refers to the average percentage of job applications received per advertised blue collar vacancy:
The results show that the highest average percentage of job applications is in the range between 20 to 40 applications per vacancy/job.
This is evident that there is a high supply of potential employees and that may increase the level of competitiveness and employers have access to a wider selection of possible applicants.
| On average how many job applications do you receive per advertised blue collar vacancy? | ||||||
| % | 20 to 40 | 41 to 60 | 61 to 80 | 81 to 120 | 121 to 180 | 180+ |
| Recruitment agencies | 33 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 10 |
| Employers | 48 | 26 | 15 | 11 | – | – |
Question 2
The purpose with the second question in the survey is to determine what percentage of applications are rejected with receipt thereof for not having all of the required/prescribed components such as résumés, cover letters and or applicants’ address of selection criteria.
Between a third and half of the number of received applications falls into this unfortunate category
From this result confirms that there is a shortcoming in the format of the job applications received from blue collar workers.
Large percentage of applications will most probably not progress beyond this screening stage.
| What percentage of the blue collar job applicants you have received had included the requested documents such as a résumé, cover letter and addressed selection criteria? | |
| % | |
| Recruitment agencies | 49 |
| Employers | 37 |
Question 3
This question does not guide the respondents, but allows for the respondents’ interpretation to how they measure or regard the standards of résumés to be poor, good or professional.
In the light of the large volumes of résumés the recruiters have to deal with, it can be accepted that the recruiters will have a realistic approach to categorize the standard of résumés they receive.
The overall feedback on this question indicated that recruiters are not overly excited by the standard of job applications and the majority rated the standard as average followed by a poor rating.
| What is the overall standard of the received blue collar job applications? | ||||
| Poor
(indicated as %) |
Average
(indicated as %) |
Good
(indicated as %) |
Professional
(indicated as %) |
|
| Recruitment agencies | 26 | 60 | 14 | 0 |
| Employers | 32 | 63 | 5 | 0 |
Question 4
The fourth question is set to specifically determine the contribution of the respondents’ pro-activeness in influencing or contribution to the outcome of question two and three above.
In question four only a third of recruitment agencies have indicated that they provide a form of assistance from which applicants can draw support and guidance from in their application preparations. Only five percent of employers have responded positive to this question. The majority of job advertisers do add to the advertisement the contact detail of person to whom relevant basic enquiries regarding the advertised position may be directed.
It is evident with the outcome of this question that the survey respondents do not currently have a high priority on being pro-active in providing assistance to blue collar worker job applicants in the preparation of applications.
Therefor the respondents are on the receiving end of blue collar job applications which they rate as average or poor.
| Do you provide any job application tools, guidelines or examples of résumés, cover letters and the selection criteria on your website which applicants have access to? | ||
| YES
(indicated as %) |
NO
(indicated as %) |
|
| Recruitment agencies | 35 | 65 |
| Employers | 5 | 95 |
Question 5
The purpose with this question is to determine to what extend the blue collar job applicants are engaging in ensuring they are presenting applications to the best of their ability. Including seeking any resources and aid available to ensure their best applications are well presented as per requirements.
Access to resources to do spell checking of applications and also finding explanations of applicable terminology used in job advertisements, are readily available on the internet.
Blue collar job applicants have the obligation to check grammar, spelling and research the relevant terminology during preparation of their applications.
| Referring to the use of grammar and understanding of the terminology in the advertisement and job description. What is the overall standard of the received blue collar job applications? | ||||
| Poor
(indicated as %) |
Average
(indicated as %) |
Good
(indicated as %) |
Professional
(indicated as %) |
|
| Recruitment agencies | 24 | 62 | 14 | 0 |
| Employers | 47 | 48 | 5 | 0 |
Additional questions in the recruitment agencies’ survey
With the previous questions the survey has established that blue collar workers’ job applications are of average and poor standard and the applicants do not adequately attempt to ensure they have at least the grammar and terminology correct in their applications. This survey has also established that recruitment agencies and employers do very little to help blue collar workers’ job applicants with improving the standard and applicability of their applications.
The purpose of the next two questions (six and seven) are to identify if this current dilemma with the standard of blue collar workers’ job applications have a disadvantage on the applications or are recruitment agencies overcoming that.
Question 6
This question is to obtain an insight in the consequences of the average to low standard applications which the blue collar workers present to recruitment agencies and employers. Also to get an indication if recruitment agencies are looking into applications beyond or pass this low standard.
The survey shows overwhelmingly that the recruitment agencies are of the opinion that the average to low standard applications which the blue collar workers present, are indeed having a negative impact on the job applications
It also shows that recruitment agencies are not reading between the lines or they are not making any assumptions on any skills and experiences if it is not specified on the job application.
| Blue collar workers who do not provide job applications with current résumés in the required format and terminology may disadvantage themselves for their skills, experiences and abilities are not reflected in their résumés? | ||||
| Totally disagree
(indicated as %) |
Disagree
(indicated as %) |
Agree
(indicated as %) |
Strongly agree
(indicated as %) |
|
| Recruitment agencies | 0 | 7 | 55 | 38 |
Question 7
This question is intentional to get the opinion of recruitment agencies on whether they think that blue collar workers could benefit from proper assistance with their preparations of job applications.
Not surprisingly almost all the respondents agreed to this statement.
| Blue collar workers in general could benefit from (professional) assistance in preparing résumés and job applications. This will improve the level of competition and make it less likely that employers will overlook the most suitable applicants because these applicants may have disadvantage themselves with poorly written résumés which do not reflect their actual skills, etc. | ||||
| Totally disagree
(indicated as %) |
Disagree
(indicated as %) |
Agree
(indicated as %) |
Strongly agree
(indicated as %) |
|
| Recruitment agencies | 0 | 2 | 53 | 45 |
Findings Summary
With the surveys the following has been established and or confirmed by the respondents:
Competition in obtaining blue collar work is strong, taking into account the number of applications for vacancies in this workers group or class.
In spite of the high quantity of applications, the standard of applications range between average and poor and are lacking required documents.
Only a third of recruitment agencies are providing tools and assistance to blue collar workers with their applications. Also to keep in mind at this point, is that recruitment agencies are serving two sides by bringing together employers and employees in a job agreement.
Blue collar job applicants are not placing enough priority and concern on their applications by not ensuring they attend to the grammar and the correct terminology. These are normally more readily accessible and available via internet.
The surveys have also managed to draw our attention to the fact that by presenting average or poor standard job applications, these blue collar job applicants may indeed disadvantage themselves.
Finally the surveys have established consensus from recruitment agencies that by providing professional assistance to blue collar job applicants, their applications will improve, be reliable and valid. The employers will then indeed benefit by getting the best candidates.
Secondary data 1
‘Survey-based secondary data refers to existing data collected for some other purpose using a survey strategy, usually questionnaires’ (Saunders et al. 2009, p.310). In 2009 Amare & Manning did research to gain the response from professional writing students to whether or not they would add the right keywords to be visible to a person reviewing their résumé or enter keywords which do not match their job background in order to recognized by robot eye. ‘A total of 357 students were surveyed and 211 responded. More than 50% (107) of the respondents stated that they would do it. Half of students would commit some kind of résumé fraud’ (Amare & Manning 2009, p.38)
This survey indicates the extent of what job applicants would consider doing to secure a job. A blue collar worker who does not award extensive time and effort to present a reliable and correct résumé, will have even less chances to secure a position against a résumé completed by a professional writer. The blue collar workers or applicants will need to ensure that all key words and correct terminology are reflected on their résumé.
‘What few texts ever explain is how an applicant could possibly know which type of résumé to submit—a regular résumé or a scannable one. Only one text of those reviewed advises calling the company to find out whether it uses scanning software’ (Guffey & Loewy, 2011, cited in Diaz, CS 2013).
Secondary data 2
A study was conducted where two résumés were created. One without additional profile data. Both were presented to human resource professionals in sequence starting with the traditional résumé first. Respondents were asked to assess the résumés. The traditional résumé was assessed to be as about the same as other typical résumés. While respondents found the résumé with the additional profile data more relevant for the screening of applicants for an interview. ‘Some of the results of this study are as follow: “Very useful” – 27% and “Somewhat useful” – 57%. Furthermore the respondents indicated the new content added “considerable” (27%) value or “some” (47%) value to the job applications versus that of a typical résumé’ (Wright et al. 2011).
This study is evident of the prominent difference in opinion in regards to what value additional profile information adds to résumés. This means that if recruiters do not provide the necessary guidelines on what they requires as part of the job applicants, they will in probably in the majority of applications not receive applications reflecting the information the recruiters are looking for. On the other hand, it is also the responsibility of the job applicants to ensure they satisfy the requirements of the recruiters and employers in order to be considered as a candidate.
Recommendations
As a result of the findings from the surveys, the following recommendations are presented to recruitment agencies and the employers who manage their own recruitment:
- List in more detail on the job advertisement and the job description what skills, knowledge and experiences the applicants should demonstrate in their application.
- If you have a preferred résumé format, make that available to the potential applicants and have a link to or mention of that in your advertisement.
- Encourage potential applicants to do thorough research about the position and also advise them to seek assistance with their applications to ensure their applications are reliable and valid.
- Task a person to be available to answer any questions from potential applicants and keep record of those applicants who made contact prior to the presentation of their applications.
- Scan the applicants’ résumés and if an applicant mentions a current employer or previous employer, it is advised for the recruiting officer to do research on that employer’s core business activities. This could help to get more insight on what skills and experiences the applicant may have but had not been listed on the résumé.
- Some blue collar jobs may require more specific skills and attributes. In this instance the recruiter should compile a list of the requirements and send it to all applicants when they make contact either before they apply or even after they have applied. Do not discard their application on the face value of it within the first screening.
- If there may be any doubt or indication of possible more skills and experiences than the applicants have listed, contact the applicant and get a verbal update.
- Create application templates and serious of questions which can be e-mailed to the applicant. This will not consume that much time, but will ensure more comprehensive applications which will make the screening process faster and more effective.
- Finally, allocate more time and resources to work through blue collar workers’ job applications individually and in doubt, contact the applicant to gain more specific information about skills and experiences.
Conclusion
The research was limited by using surveys and the survey contained closed questions. The data gathered with the surveys clearly identified the critical gap in the job applications which blue collar workers present and the standard of applications expected by the recruiters and employers. The applicants are not seeking adequate and enough guidance and assistance with their applications. At the same time recruiters are not as a rule freely and in abundance offering application tools or examples of résumés and other job application components to the blue collar job applicants.
Recruiters and employers should consider investing resources in assisting blue collar workers with their résumés and motivating these workers to keep their résumés current.
‘.. using workshops may be a good vehicle to teach résumé-writing skills….’ (Tillotson et 2012). Tillotson et al 2012 further stated that the potential benefits of using workshops to teach skills such as résumé writing and also shows a lack of research to support using such workshops.
This will ensure that employers receive job applications which are accurately representing the applicants. Employers will then award themselves the opportunity to employ the blue collar workers in accordance with the job requirements. Blue collar workers should not postpone the update of their résumés until they are applying for positions, but rather keep it updated, or seek assistance in advance with the creation and writing of their résumés.
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Appendices
Appendix A – Recruitment Agents: Survey Questions and Results
- On average how many job applications do you receive per advertised Blue Collar vacancy?
| 20 to 40
41 to 60 61 to 80 80 to 120 120 to 180 180+ |
- What percentage of the blue collar job applications you receive, have included the requested documents such a resume, cover letter and addressed selection criteria?
| between 0 and 100 |
- What is the overall standard of blue collar job applications received?
| Poor | Average | Good | Professional |
Other (please specify)
Do you provide any job application tools, guidelines or examples of resumes, cover letters and the selection criteria on your website which applicants have access to?
| Yes | No |
| Other (please specify) | |
Referring to the use of grammar and understanding of the terminology in the advertisement and job description. What is the average standard of blue collar job applications received?
| Poor | Average | Good | Professional |
Other (please specify)
Blue collar workers who do not present above standard job applications in the current market, may disadvantage themselves for their skills, experiences and abilities are not reflected in their resumes?
| totally disagree | disagree | agree | strongly agree |
Blue collar workers in general could benefit from (professional) assistance in preparing resumes and job applications. This will improve the level of competition and make it less likely that employers will overlook the most suitable applicants because these applicants may have disadvantage themselves with poorly written resumes which do not reflect their actual skills, etc.
| totally disagree | disagree | agree | strongly agree |
Appendix B – Direct Employers: Survey Questions and Results
- On average how many job applications do you receive per advertised Blue Collar vacancy?
| 20 to 40
41 to 60 61 to 80 80 to 120 120 to 180 180+ |
- What percentage of the blue collar job applications you receive, have included the requested documents such a resume, cover letter and addressed selection criteria?
| between 0 and 100 |
- What is the overall standard of blue collar job applications received?
| Poor | Average | Good | Professional |
Other (please specify)
Do you provide any job application tools, guidelines or examples of resumes, cover letters and the selection criteria on your website which applicants have access to?
| Yes | No |
| Other (please specify) | |
Referring to the use of grammar and understanding of the terminology in the advertisement and job description. What is the average standard of blue collar job applications received?
| Poor | Average | Good | Professional |
Other (please specify)