****Recruitment Tips****

[CraftDinur]

Due to the surge of denied applications, I thought I might show you applicants what we look for and how to get your application from denied to accepted.

If you haven't done so, go to the link below to find out how to make an application for the USAB Clan. The area where you post your application is in the Recruitment section, not the general USAB section.
http://ace-spades.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10

When we look at an application, there are 4 things we look at. Those 4 things are Content, Maturity, Past History, and Grammar. I will do a run-down of each of the following points and show you how to ace all 4 of them. Contrary to popular belief, we actually want to accept people but you make it a little hard to do so with all the bad applications :P

Content

This is probably the biggest part of the application since it takes up almost 90% of your written application. The easiest part of the content would be reaching the 50 word minimum. If you cannot reach this requirement then you should probably move on to a different clan because this is probably the most effortless part to fulfill. Figuring out what to write is probably going to be the most challenging part. Your written application is a demonstration of your creativity, innovation, and maturity all in one. Touch on topics such as what you'd like to do if you get accepted to the clan, how you found USAB, or what you think is different about USAB asides from other clans. These are of course mere suggestions and shouldn't be the only things you write. When writing this part, try to be original and stay away from generic topics. If you can make yourself stand out from all of the other applicants, it will give you a good chance of you getting accepted and you will look more mature than other kids choosing easy answers to get themselves accepted.

PROTIP: USAB does not care about skill. It is just a coincidence that many of our members are skilled players.

Maturity

Maturity is found in 3 ways. Your written application shows a whole lot about your maturity level. It is quite easy to write a single paragraph but most people seem to be unable to complete this simple task that greatly shows how mature you are. Other than your written application, we also look at possible server logs and your past history on the forums (I will get into this later). Keep in mind that maturity isn't based completely upon age. Although it is highly likely that a very young person doesn't have a high maturity level, just because you are 10 years old doesn't mean you're a complete idiot. When we look at maturity we see your personality in general. We're basically looking to see if you're a dingus and if you're going to start fights or make our clan look bad. After looking at your written application, your interview plays the biggest part at finding your maturity level. Answer the questions wisely because it is one of our only glimpses at your maturity level before accepting.

PROTIP: Being accepted into USAB does not guarantee that you cannot be booted out if you're immature later.

Past History

Here at USAB we are very lucky to have many server administrators and a moderator of the forums on our staff. When we look for your past history, we don't only look at your previous posts but we also look at your in-game activity as well. Being a complete dick in public matches is the exact same as being a flamer on the forums and doesn't make you look that good. That being said, deleting all your previous posts isn't a good idea either. Having only a single recruitment post makes it awfully hard to see what type of a person you are and you better hope your written application was top-grade material. Other than maturity, we also look for evidence of clan-hopping, meaning you join multiple clans in a very short period of time. Clan-hopping is distinguished from bad judgment when choosing a first clan. If you chose a previous clan which you didn't like or found out wasn't right for you, it is okay to switch to us since everyone makes mistakes. Moving from one clan to another over and over again shows you have bad judgment and that makes the difference between a player who made a mistake and a player who is immature.

PROTIP: Our staff are admins on Minit, aloha, and Goon Haven. We also monitor the forums and IRC a lot. Booyo is also a forum Moderator (although it's pretty obvious who I was referring to)

Grammar

Although many people think it's not all that necessary, grammar is a very important part in anyone's written application. If everything you write is completely incoherent or made up of plenty of mistakes, it doesn't look good on our side if someone like you is posting on topics around the forums. It also makes you look rather immature as you are unable to formulate a good looking post. That being said, if English isn't your first language we don't expect you to write a top-notch paragraph. If you're not native to the English language, it's okay if you make a few mistakes but if you show no attempt of trying to make your application look good, you're going to be treated like everyone else. Not understanding English is no excuse for writing a bad paragraph. Those not native to English have specific errors in writing which can be seen and if you are lying it is quite easy uncover and you will be quickly booted.

PROTIP: Our newly accepted Officer, Rezon, is from Germany, showing you that English doesn't have to be your native language for you to go far.



Hopefully these few tips showed you how to make a good application for USAB. I've done my best to guide you through and give you the bare-bones on how to develop a good application. Although you may still be a little stuck or you may not know how to get through the interview, there are 3 things you can keep in mind to solve most of your problems.

Innovation, Creativity, Originality

Good luck on that application, recruits!

~CraftDinur