Bad Presentation – Job Application Quality

I’ve had to review prospective candidates’ CVs on and off over the last few years. In some rare cases both the CV and the covering email (or letter) has been inspiring. Unfortunately those were rare cases. The average CV that I have the “pleasure” of reading, however, is anything but inspiring.

Nobody is asking candidates to produce works of literary merit and I am very aware that not everyone has a strong affinity with the written word. However some of the CVs I’ve received in the last year have been almost laughable.
I’m sorry, but if you can’t even spell “curriculum vitae” correctly your job prospects are going to be seriously reduced.
In many cases the covering email is incoherent and has to be reread several times to piece together the message.
Why is that?
Is it that people think that they are so “qualified” that they will get the job anyway, or is it a case of them losing the ability to use the English language?
The ability to follow simple instructions also seems to pose serious issues for some people. It is common for job announcements / adverts to include clear and simple instructions on how to respond.
These instructions serve a number of functions. If, like a lot of people, you receive large volumes of mail, a keyword or phrase in the subject line makes it a lot easier to organise and find emails.
The other preference that many employers will specify is the document format.
In our case, for example, at least one of the people reviewing CVs does not use Microsoft Office, so rtf or pdf is the expected format.
It’s not a case of us expressing a preference. We are the ones offering the job. If you want it you have to follow our instructions.
Am I alone in seeing this trend?
Is this one of the side-effects of our recent economic growth?