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’ – FAIL Blog

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.