I write this blog with a very heavy heart. My heart bleeds when I see how some established companies, especially some government departments and parastatals worsen the livelihoods of unemployed individuals who search for Jobs in Zimbabwe by simply forcing them to apply for jobs at their companies or organisations either in person or through a traditional non-electronic method.
Usually these institutions will ask the applicant to photocopy all his or her academic and professional qualifications and certificates. Some even want a copy of national ID as well as birth certificate and also a driver’s license. The request doesn’t end there, all these photocopied documents should be certified, and most Zimbabwean commissioner of oaths charge between $1 and $3 to certify a single document.
In addition to that, the applicant will have to type his application letter (resume) as well as CV then print these documents and attach them to the certified copies of academic and professional certificates.
As if that was not enough, most companies require three sets of all the above mentioned documents, while most government departments or parastatals and also city councils and municipalities that compel job seekers to apply offline demand six sets of the said documents.
For all these documents to fit in a single envelope, whether you are going to submit your vacancy application in person or through the post office, you are still going to need a bigger envelope, a single A-4 size should get the job done, however. If you are not based in the same town where the hiring company is, then submitting your application via the post office will most likely be the cheapest way to get your application letter to the hiring manager. But then, when did you last buy a stamp and sent a letter? Do you have the quarantee that the letter will reach the hiring manager before the due date? For that reason, hand delivering your application letter is the most secure and best way to ensure that your documents reach the intended destination.
This will often mean boarding one or two public transport vehicles from your house to the hiring company and again one or two more public transport vehicles to get back home.
By now the job seeker should have spent over US$10 on this single application process. What pains me the most is that the employer will receive, say 100 applications and only one lucky individual is going to get the job, the other 99 will most likely not even get a response. Instead of informing these unlucky applicants, the employer will usually use that energy to burn and destroy the CVs and qualifications of the non-shortlished candidates.
My fellow countrymen, this is painful, very painful. As an unemployed someone, raising about $10 to spend towards applying for a single job whose probability of getting hired is either 1% or even less, should make you think twice before applying for that job.
Here at Work In Zimbabwe, we can guarantee you that never ever will such jobs ever see the light of the day on this platform, never. As long as the application process of a given job is not going to be done online, then we will never ever publish it on our platform.
We have done our part, and we urge you too as an individual to do your part. If we all ignore all such vacancies that force individuals to apply offline, these employers will eventually realise how disheartening and painful it is to the applicants who don’t even make it to the shortlisted few.
It is time that we start embracing technology my dear brothers and sisters. Our website, www.workinzimbabwe.com, helps both employers and job seekers FOR FREE! No one pays to use our services, it’s a free gift to the nation. If a hiring manager strictly wants a person aged between 30 and 40 years, our website will screen the applicants and anyone who doesn’t meet the said strict requirement(s) will not be allowed to proceed with the application process. This saves the job seeker’s time and money and the employer only receives applications that meet his or her requirements.
Your Faithful Servant
WorkinZimbabwe.com Founder
