A reminder to students

A couple of times a year, I get a CV and cover letter from some student looking for a work placement. One arrived this morning and was fairly typical.

There was a lengthy cover letter - slightly over a page long and dense with text that was littered with spelling mistakes, poor grammar and punctuation errors. It was addressed to "Dear Sir/Madam" and went on to enquire about a possible work placement in advertising.

I truly despair of what universities are teaching today's students. Or rather what they are not teaching them. It is inexcusable to send a 23-year-old out into the world of work with such poor literacy skills, for one thing. Especially when they are doing a degree in media and English literature.

The lack of research skills acquired is equally deplorable. Whoever dug up my details - whether the careers office or the student herself - could quite easily have quickly checked if I might be suitable to contact. A few seconds' googling would have produced my website, on which it is very clear that I'm a sole trader working from home, as well as my name. Not much point, then, in addressing the envelope to "FAO Recruitment" or me as "Sir/Madam". Not only that, but a look at my website would also have shown that I have nowt to do with the world of advertising at all.

What a waste of a stamp. I felt slightly sad for this particular student as I emailed her back to explain why I couldn't offer her work experience (although I refrained from saying she'd have no chance with me anyway because of her poor English).

Is it really so difficult for students to do a little homework before bombarding anyone slightly within their radar with their CVs? Every single application I have received since going freelance has been the same - a badly written and badly targeted enquiry. I guess the companies out there who would be happy to offer a placement also despair at the quality of applications.

So, to any students (or uni career officers) who are reading this: do your research, use a spell-checker, get someone to proofread your letter, ask someone for feedback on your CV and do your research...

Productivity and annoyances

The bug that's been haunting me for the last month appears to be in retreat at last. Despite problems falling asleep last night (which required a quantity of brandy to rectify), I felt more energised today.

Cue a flurry of activity - I pitched several mags and papers with some feature ideas, sent a cheque to my web host for services rendered and invoiced some clients, which I should have done on Friday last week but didn't due to lack of energy and general feeling of illness.

Next, it was time to overhaul my CV. The last time I applied for a job (and got one) was well over 6 years ago. Since then, I've tweaked the old resumé as needed, especially when attaching it to client pitches, but I have decided to apply for a full-time job (don't panic, I'll still be freelancing, IF I get it {fat chance} ). The CV needed major surgery. I chopped and cut and slashed and burned. Then I sent it to a trusted hack pal who has the ability to hire, for an honest opinion. It came back scrawled in the digital equivalent of red ink. I was momentarily shocked, but the trusted colleague was bang on the money. Hey ho, there are several more hours' work ahead. 'T'will be worth it.

Fingers crossed...

Meanwhile, I may be back in the union, but the union's not backing me... I have my reissued membership number, but will the NUJ recognise it on the website and let me log in to all the exciting behind-the-scenes stuff? Of course not. That was too much to hope for. Hey-ho again, I'll have to get on the phone. Tomorrow's phone round also includes booking a haircut I should have had a month ago except I've been ill, ordering a bottle of calor gas in case of a cold snap, so I don't die of hypothermia in my office, and chasing a company that promised me a refund several weeks ago. Oh, and chasing some of today's pitches.

Editorship applied for...

Purely by chance, while surfing the net at the weekend, I came across a dream job. Now being a freelance, working for an employer is not really part of the game plan. But this was too good an opportunity to miss - it's only part-time for a quarterly magazine so I could continue to freelance the rest of the time while devoting a few days per month to being editor of what is possibly the most prestigious publication in its field.

I have long had an interest in fetish matters and I have the journalistic experience to back me up. So, after discussing it with the beloved P at the weekend, this morning I wrote my application and e-mailed it, along with my CV, to the MD.

I await a response with interest.

I'm certain to be offered an interview - there cannot be many fully experienced journalists and editors who are also fetishists. I don't expect the competition to be extensive. The job was not, as far as I can tell, very widely advertised at all. I wonder how many people they will invite in for a chat? I know my CV is excellent and I have the contacts "in the field" to be able to commission good photographers and writers.

I'm on tenterhooks now, even though it may be a few weeks before I hear anything at all... I'll keep you all posted. In the meantime, please keep your fingers crossed for me.