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    Job seeker circumnavigates 1,000 character minimum application essays, manages to land an interview: 'Your application box wanted 1,000 characters, so you got exactly that'

    Applying to jobs is full of minor inconveniences that almost seem designed to make you stop.

    We've all found ourselves in situations where we're filling out an application, and suddenly we're asked to reiterate something we have already reiterated numerous times at this point. Perhaps there is a question about your previous work experience when your resume already clearly answers that question. Perhaps there are practically identical essay questions, and you wonder how you'll be able to answer the same paraphrased question when you have already said what there is to say on the topic. 

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    • As this author points out from her own experience, sometimes, it's not as simple as writing "see attached resume" or "see answer to previous question." After all, we all know that these applications are likely pre-screened by an automated system before any human gets to see them. You don't want to ruin your chances by writing nothing, and copying the same answer is obviously a no-no as well. 

      This applicant found herself in a unique situation. She applied for what she thought was a perfect opportunity for her. It was a natural fit based on her resume and professional experience. She knew that she was overqualified for this position. However, when it came to the actual application, there was a series of unnecessary essay questions that asked the applicant to essentially repeat themselves a million times. Moreover, there was a steep character minimum for each essay that you needed to hit in order to submit your application. Again, clearly this was designed to make people give up, but this applicant found a clever loophole so she could complete her application, knowing that when the time would come for an interview, she would point out just how unnecessary the whole process was.

    • A job candidate sits opposite two hiring managers in an interview.
      via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

      A job candidate sits opposite two hiring managers in an interview.

      Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    • There is a problem with extensive applications. Sure, they might be designed to reduce the number of applicants to so-called “serious contenders.” However, if people have to go through the arduous process of dealing with multiple essays, varying language, and reaching character minimums, recruiters and hiring managers should, at the very least, do these job seekers a favor and read their work. If they're unable to fulfill their end of the bargain, then they should stop with the over-the-top applications. You're only losing strong candidates who might otherwise be interested and qualified for these positions, too!

    • "Malicious compliance during my job hunt: your application box wanted 1,000 characters, so you got exactly that"

      I'm 32F and I've been job hunting for a mid level admin role after my contract ended.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • Nothing dramatic, just the usual grinding through postings, tweaking the same resume, trying not to lose my mind.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • I applied to one company that looked perfect, hybrid, boring in a good way, decent benefits, and the posting was super normal.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • The weird part was their application portal. Every single text box had a minimum character count, like not "a few sentences," but a hard number.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • The first box was "Why do you want to work here?" Minimum 1,000 characters. The second was "Describe a time you solved a problem." Minimum 1,000 characters.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • Even "Anything else we should know?" had a minimum. If you tried to submit with less, it threw a red error and wiped your last couple lines, which is honestly evil.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • At first I tried to play along and wrote thoughtful answers, but after the third box I realised I was basically writing a short essay for a role that pays the same as every other admin job.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • I emailed the generic HR address asking if the character minimum was a mistake because it felt like they were forcing people to ramble.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • They replied the next day with a very firm template vibe: "Please complete the application as designed.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • Incomplete applications cannot be reviewed." Okay then, as designed. So I decided to treat it like a compliance puzzle.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • I wrote normal, clear answers, then padded them to the minimum using their own job posting language, one bullet at a time, rewritten in first person.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • Stuff like "You mentioned calendar management, I have done that for X teams," "You mentioned vendor coordination, I've handled that," and so on.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • If I was still short, I added extremely literal context: what software I used, how I labelled folders, how I tracked action items, very thrilling stuff.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • I also counted characters in a separate doc because their portal counter lagged and would jump backward.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • For the "problem solving" box I even added a tiny glossary of acronyms I had used in the paragraph because I needed like 60 more characters and my brain was fried.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • Every box ended up being exactly over the minimum by a handful of characters, not one more than I had to.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • It looked ridiculous, like I was narrating my own life to a bored robot, but the portal loved it.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • I hit submit, got the "thank you" screen, and waited. Two days later I received an auto rejection email that said, in bold, "We do not accept applications containing copied job description text." My stomach actually dropped because I thought they meant plagiarism.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • Then I remembered I had used their posting as a structure, but I had rewritten everything
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • No copy paste, no direct quotes. I replied politely asking what section. was flagged and offered to resend my answers in a different format.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • A real human replied and said their system flags "keyword stuffing" and "template language" and they could not override it unless I resubmitted.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • I asked, gently, how I was supposed to hit the minimum characters without "template language" when the portal literally forces you to fill space, and also told them their system had wiped my text multiple times so I had been extra careful.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • They wrote back, kind of embarrassed, saying they "didn't realise" the minimums were that high and asked for a screenshot.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • I sent it. The next morning I got an email: "We have updated the application fields, could you please reapply?" I checked the portal and the minimums were gone.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • Just normal boxes. I reapplied with normal answers, got an interview request that afternoon, and the recruiter actually joked, "Yeah, we were getting some, uh, very long responses." I said, yep, funny how that happens when you force people to hit a number.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • RabidSeason > Every box ended up being exactly over the minimum by a handful of characters, not one more than I had to. I guess Al doesn't understand how to use hyperbole very well. An exact handful of not one.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • Jezbod Sounds like my friend that was applying to a UK supermarket chain for the role of the head of IT security. They had to do a test to see what their character was like...and failed. The test was designed to find the "fluffy friendly" till operatives, not the cynical, security conscious IT people. My friend fed this back to the recruiter that had approached them and they said several others had given the same feed back. They did not reapply for the job.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • Kurgan_IT The time you have spent on this whole shitshow would have been better spent looking for a job at another place. At this point, I would have told them that they owe you a fee for spending all that time helping them fixing their idiotic forms. And I would not want to work for them anyway.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • TechnicallyCant5083 This is barely malicious compliance this is at most r/petty compliance. You didn't even have to do any of that a second email would've saved you a lot of work
      via PelicanSidenote
    • cyberentomology Line and paragraph breaks are characters too, js.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • FrogFlavor 1000 characters is 150-200 words. The average paragraph is 100-200 words.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • Dangerous-Regret-358 Well, what this amount to, really, is a lack of basic common sense. It seems to me that this was designed by a graduate - they don't teach common sense at universities.
      via PelicanSidenote
    • SmegB so you wasted a whole bunch of your own time for.....very little
      via PelicanSidenote
    • Zoreb1 Not really Al which involves complicated decision making; this has been going on for a couple of decades where some program looks for a series of words and either sends it on to a person or rejects it. More like an 'on/off' switch but using word prompts.
      via PelicanSidenote
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    • angstylemon They needed you to send them a screenshot of their own application portal? Most of the other details were believable but that's just ridiculous
      via PelicanSidenote

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