Why Fill Out Job Applications?

OK, I've got a question for club owners/managers, relating to the process of hiring. Many of you solicit new staff, and ask people to complete application forms and submit them to you. What I'm curious to know is ... what happens next on your side?

The reason for asking is that I have, over the last few months, completed numerous application forms for numerous clubs - probably as many as a dozen. In completing these forms, I'm articulate, I consider the answers carefully, giving a clear answer to the question. I'm no rookie - I've been doing the sort of jobs I'm applying for in SL for near on two years now, and can back my declared skills up with actions.

And yet, with the exception of two people, I have not received one single acknowledgement of the time I've spent filling in these forms - not even a "look, thanks, but you're not what we're after".

Dual question really - have other people the same impression that the filling out of these application forms is nothing but a waste of time, AND why bother to ask prospective employees to complete them, if you're not going give them the basic courtesy of an acknowledgement?

Ditto that in RL. Business etiquette is going out the window these days (along with grammar, punctuation, spelling, personal grooming...).

about the only Applications i did not give call backs on when i was HM at club like say GOL would be..if i never recieved it from my managers
or if they forgot to put their name on it and it fell into the pit of un named applications..otherwise you heard back from me or one of my managers..but i made certain i was final say on ever application..

we used to get a crazy amount of apps everyday..

some places if the app is turned down they may just not get back with you..
thats rude itself

I hate applications. I dont use them. Folks are either are experienced or they need training (which I provide to all staff). As long as they can understand english they can work in a club.

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Malia, Ceka and Lias - thanks for the posts - I was beginning to fear this was another of those "hold up the mirror and people just cower away" rants of mine.

More individually ....

@ Malia - Amen to that comment. Sad but true, professional courtesy and politeness, as well as the ability to string a list of coherent words together correctly, appears to be a dying art. Such a shame really.

@ Ceka - Yes, I appreciate that some people can't go beyond filling in an application form with simple details such as their own name. And also that there must be an incredible volume of apps received daily, particularly in a popular establishment. That you did take the time to respond where possible speaks volumes to your professionalism - and on behalf of all those who were never left wondering, I thank you.

@ Lias - I agree with you that application forms are a drudge, and indeed unnecessary for someone such as yourself who works hard at making herself directly available to applicants. Sadly, you're a rarity in this regard - although I must say that most of the work I've gotten has been a result of finding and directly approaching owners, browbeating them into taking a chance on me, and then filling in their forms for formality's sake.

i don't see a reason for them other than to organize interviews or as a form of note card for someone to drop off instead of trying to catch up to the one doing the hiring..

the larger clubs with a staff of 250 to 400 or more and more wanting to join..you pretty much have to have some kind of system in place or you would end up missing a lot of people that did come in looking for jobs..

also if someone is experienced it's good to know why they are looking for work..asking for past clubs is a good way to either have the person tell you why they left or to speak with the owner or manager of a few of the older places..

if you get a few that are consistent with someone losing a job because of drama ..i don't care if they have 5 years as a dancer or dj or security..it needs to be followed up as to not poison the water..

smaller clubs to me would have less use of apps i would think ..since there is a lot less going on and more time for the one on one interviews on the spot..but they are still good in case someone is not around just to let someone know you are interested..

the only thing i really hated about applications was there were so many of them on a daily basis..nobody likes paper work but it does help if you have to be organized..

i just hated seeing someone put up beautiful pictures and fill in an application and then not get it until it was too late..
i had finally started to do weekly cleanings of my applications that and stressed to the people giving out applications to make sure they told the people where to put the names..


i am not defending clubs out there because i know there are a lot that just toss apps aside..
a lot has to do with the club you walk into and the staff and managers..if they are well organized and have a good system..they will give a response most times i would think..
then again i can't speak for what they do if they get backlogged. lol

I prefer a live interview for several reasons:

(1) The owners and managers speak english, and we want to make sure our staff can understand our rules and notices. That's best done live.

(2) It saves time to do it right then and there.

On the bright side, if they can't be bothered to respond to your application, you know you can cross them off the list of places you would want to work for...

Just sayin'.

But yeah, I imagine it is frustrating when you put your best professional foot forward and your app falls into a black hole. I haven't been filling out SL apps, so I can't speak to the experience directly.

Applications serve a few purposes. One is that if a prospective employee can't be motivated enough to complete the application, they aren't motivated enough to work for me. Second, I have crafted the questions so that they will tell me if the applicant has the kind of personality for which I am looking. Third, it serves as a reminder of things like how much the applicant promised to work. Fourth, it gives me a guide of what to talk about in an interview.

I have contacted every person who has filled out an application at my club to set up an interview. Filling out our application is a bit of a task, and it's only polite for me to follow up every time someone has taken their time to fill out one.

I'm sure that the fact that other club managers are not as thoughtful to at least thank someone for filling out an application discourages potential dancers from filling out ours. But, there isn't much I can do about that. I think the application is important, and I'm not abandoning it.

well I do not use them because I hire people one day old (because in reality they may have been born at night - but not last night. Any adult can learn to host or DJ within 2 hours).

I know hiring such green noobies can have its drawbacks: You train and they decide they do not like SL and then you have to replace them. But I feel that virtual employment in SL does three things: (1)It gives the noobie a social group to be involved in (2) It gives them hands-on training to learn SL functions (3) and it gives them money to enjoy the items that cost in SL.

But the learning curb in SL may prohibit them from completing the application and returning it. SL notecards are old hat to us. We may take it for granted someone can figure out how to use them and loose out on a potentially good worker. My longest term staff started out as noobs looking for work and after 6 months they can function on many levels in the venue ( I believe in cross-training)

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yes i think hiring new people is a good thing..i never really was into all that 30 day stuff..
i was hired i think day 3 myself and 2 weeks later i was at GOL.
we had a school that trained new people and got them ready to be dancers..
i always felt that first club or two really molded a dancer..
so getting them quick and teaching them some important things right away was something they would carry with them the rest of the way..

working at a club as a dancer you really do get a lot of good help with so many things in sl..
we had a two week long class and they got to be greeters earning tips until the class was over..then assigned a mentor and they went on stage..going from nothing to 7k a change was a good feeling for a lot of them..

i loved getting the excited im's from dancers just loving being on stage..
i remember so many being nervous to go out there and i would take them out there and put them ina section next to me until they were past being nervous..
that usually took about 2 minutes after being settled in their spot lol

it was a lot of fun working in the clubs if you can look past all the drama that went on behind the scenes..

Ah, the drama

I think that in RL the evil HR people are actually being TOLD not to contact people that they don't choose to interview, because any response you make could potentially be grounds for somebody to try to sue you for discrimination. So it's not precisely a failure of etiquette.

Yes , the "I'm entitled to this job whether I'm qualified or not, and should keep it no matter how porly I do it" defense.