unless the job is writing CVs,
I don't see why it matters.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 12 Jun 2008, 13:07, archived)

because it matters if you want the job or not
if you produce a poor CV, then you either aren't bothered enough about the job to adapt your CV for it, or you don't know how to write a CV for a specific job, which is a fairly basic skill (and if you lack that fairly basic skill, what else do you lack)

It's not rocket science. Even for a basic admin job as you mention, all else being equal you'll take the applicant that actually looks like they give a shit. So if you lead your CV with your education details or whatever, who cares? put the relevant stuff first. Experience, office skills, etc etc.
(loutre I've said too much, been too unkind, Thu 12 Jun 2008, 13:14, archived)

It's possibly a bit subjective as to what constitutes a "good" CV,
but all the same. If people weren't expected to apply for 100 jobs a week, they might only apply for the ones they actually wanted and thought they'd be good at. People only waste so much paper because of the constant accusation that they're not making enough effort unless they're making as much or more than everybody else. And of course if you're sending off that many, you can't possibly be putting that much care and attention into each of them.

It's not always easy to know exactly what the employer wants either, sometimes the job descriptions can be very brief. It's a bit of pot luck a lot of the time.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Thu 12 Jun 2008, 13:18, archived)

I suppose that's a point, certainly

(loutre I've said too much, been too unkind, Thu 12 Jun 2008, 13:24, archived)