Update 25 August 2010:

Applications for the Youth Development Advisor role below have now CLOSED; thank you for the huge interest in this position.  We have now selected people to interview and all applicants should have received email notification on whether or not they have been invited to interview.    If you applied for this job and haven’t received a response please let us know.

Below is an open letter with some feedback and suggestions from Executive Director Kate Frykberg based on the applications received:

Dear job applicants for the Youth Development Advisor role at Todd Foundation

Thank you applying to us; I was overwhelmed to receive 108 applications for this role and humbled by the calibre of applicants.  I am also acutely aware that there will be 107 disappointed people who will not get the job, and the only thing I could think of to offer is some generalised feedback on the applications, after personally reading all 108 of them.  Please note that these are just my opinions; I’m not a professional recruiter or HR manager, so please take this with a grain of salt.

1. Remember your audience: With this many applications it is not possible to spend more than 3 or 4 minutes per CV on the first reading.  This means that it is really important to keep your cover letter and your CV succinct and well structured –  personally I prefer  no more than a page and a half for the letter and no more than 4 pages for the CV.

2. The Cover Letter matters! Our first impression of you is the cover letter, so make that first impression count.  Also, in our case we are looking for someone with “excellent written communication” – your cover letter helps us assess this.  Here are some suggestions:

• Tailor your letter for the job.  This is time consuming if you are applying for lots of jobs, but worth it for the ones you really want.  We asked for answers to two questions – why you are interested in the role and why you think you would be good at it. Over a third of people didn’t answer the first question at all, and only a small number of people structured their letter around these two questions. A few keen people structured their answer to the second question around the skill requirements in the ad or JD – this was a useful approach.
• Keep the language clear and simple.
• Proof-read!  Here’s some of the things I saw in letters: misspelled words, bad grammar, my name spelled wrong (understandable but not the best first impression), the job title wrong and even the phrase:  [insert organisation name]

3.  CVs were generally excellent. Just a couple of thoughts:

• Remember to list your most recent job first.  A small number of people listed their earliest job and worked forward; generally this doesn’t do you justice.
• Consider keeping the list of key skills very short.  Lots of CVs had two or three pages of key skills, with each explained in detail, so I imagine this must be considered good practice, but it doesn’t work well for me.  Why?  Because anyone can say they have, say, “excellent relationship management skills” – but how do I know that yours are special?   I prefer to look for evidence, eg through your work history or volunteer work – although this is a hit and miss process.  An alternative way of showing key skills that works better for me is to provide a single concrete example of each skill only, so that your CV is not too long but you provide evidence of your skills.
• Include volunteer work and Interests at the end of your CV.  Volunteer work shows you care about your community in your unpaid time, and interests help show that you are an interesting, well-rounded person.

I hope this is some help and I’m sorry that I will not be able to provide personal feedback to applicants, but there are just too many!  Thanks again for applying to us;

Kate

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Youth Development Advisor Advert:

Part-time 20 – 30 hours per week, Central Wellington

Are you passionate about young people developing their potential and contributing fully in the community?

The Todd Foundation is a charitable family trust providing funding to community organisations nationwide, and the Youth Development Advisor‘s role is to help maximise our contribution to young people and their families / whānau.  This role has become available because our current Youth Development Advisor, Wainui, is relocating out of Wellington with her family.

The role includes:

• Researching social issues relevant to young people and understanding the social sector
• Making thoughtful funding recommendations based on the above
• Working alongside grantees to help maximise impact and to collect and apply what is learned

We need a team player with can-do attitude who has:

• In-depth experience in the community sector, particularly in working with young people and their families / whānau
• Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills
• Proven experience in at least one of the following:  Programme Management, Tikanga Māori, Grant-making, Policy Analysis, Evaluation, Research.

We offer: a small close-knit team, flexible part-time hours, work that is challenging, enjoyable and offers constant learning, excellent conditions and benefits, central city location, and the opportunity to contribute to the wellbeing of our young people.  Salary is negotiable but likely to be the part-time equivalent of $60 – 75K, ie $30k – $55k plus bonus and benefits depending on hours and experience.

Interested? You can learn more about the Todd Foundation from this website and download the Job description for the Youth Development Advisor here.  If you have any questions, please contact Kate on 04 931 6036.  To apply, please email info@toddfoundation.org.nz with

• Your CV
• A covering letter or email stating a) why you are interested in the position and b) why you think you would be good at this role.

Closing date: Sunday August 15, 2010