Applying for a Job
If you are applying for a job, you will find that there are many others who have the same qualifications as you. So how do you make yourself stand out from those others?
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Applying for a job |
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Stage two in the process of getting a job is your application for the job you're interested in. For this you need at least two things: your CV or Resume, and your Letter of Application or Covering Letter.
CV or resume
Your CV or Resume is central to the process of applying for a job. It lists the basic information about you: personal data; academic qualifications; professional registrations; educational history; work history; communty work; interests; and any other relevant data.
Letter of application or covering letter
When applying for a job, it is no good just listing what you have got (as you do in the CV or Resume). I'm afraid that you are going to have to "sell" your qualities in your application for the job. This means looking at the list of criteria for the job, and methodically working through them to make sure that you write something on each one in the Letter of Application or Covering Letter, i.e., picking out aspects of your learning that address each particular criterion.
To go one step further, research the company or organization. Work out how your strengths can help the organization and be used in achieving their strategic goals or objectives.
Many of the skills you acquire in a course are generic rather than specific and so will transfer easily into employment in any job. These generic skills include the ability to write reports and essays, to give presentations, to work as part of a team, problem-solving, networking skills, to work individually, and to manage your time effectively. Employers are usually looking for these skills, so when you're applying for a job, make the most of the experience and skills you obtained in and outside of your course.
Making sure the selection panel wants to know more
If you have some areas that you are particularly strong on, write about them briefly in your Letter of Application or Covering Letter, and also suggest that you would welcome the opportunity to talk more about these in an interview. These are "bait" that you place so that you can, to some extent, control the interview - if your application is chosen by the Selection Panel.
Click here to go to the next step in applying for a job.
