Job Tuition

How To: Write An Application

December 1st, 2006 by Jennine

You’ve decided to go ahead and apply for a position and you need to submit an application.

Hint One – Job Specification

I can’t stress the importance of obtaining a Job Specification enough. A lot of government applications are received without people obtaining one. These applications aren’t even looked at. Also, covering the criteria in your cover letter will not get you an interview.

Contact the company/business/agency and get a copy of their job specification. If they don’t have one then you will need to address the criteria specified in the advertisement. Treat that as your essential criteria, highlight all the keywords and focus on them. Keywords to look for would be essential, desirable, knowledge, experience, skill and training. Look for points where you can really sell yourself and your credentials.

Hint Two – Application

Whatever you do – don’t write your application in an essay format. The panel will just see a pile of words and think that’s too hard to establish if they have met the criteria.

The best way is to individualise each criteria and respond to each one separately. Keep the format the job specification is already in and make sure you numerically the same. Answer each criteria, even if you have limited knowledge or experience, state what you do have and how you are prepared to undergo further training or experience to maximise your potential.

Always put yourself in a positive light.

Hint Three – Examples

For each criteria provide an example which demonstrates where you have gained knowledge, experience and skills. Remember, these people don’t know you and they have no idea about what you can bring to the role. Supply them with as much information as you can.

Such as they need to know that in your current position you work with a “To-Do list which enables you to work with minimal supervision and demonstrates your time management skills as well as providing flexibility if a new priority arises.

Hint Four – Embellishment

There’s a thin line between embellishment and outright lying. Be careful here, what you put in your application or on your CV/Resume be prepared to support. If you say you have a typing speed of 60 wpm with 98% accuracy, don’t be surprised if you have a typing test as part of your interview. The same with IT qualifications, they will want evidence of your knowledge. If you don’t have certificates and say it’s on the job training, it won’t take much to discover if you are able to reconfigure a network or troubleshoot a pc.

A small amount of embellishment is acceptable within certain boundaries. For example, you may be able to “theoretically reconfigure a network but have never done so. In this instance you could say I have the ability to reconfigure a network and troubleshoot network errors. You have never had to do, but you have confidence that when the time comes you could do it.

Hint Five – Accuracy

Always double check your application for spelling and grammatical errors. Once you have checked, ask a friend or relative to have a look and see if they can spot any. Don’t rely on the word processor to do it for you, because if you have typed a word correctly, but it’s not the word you wanted it won’t pick it up.

I’m also referring to the accuracy of your statements. Make sure they are correct, if in doubt rephrase it. For example if you aren’t sure if you could practically reconfigure a network, then mention that you have knowledge of reconfiguring the network and focus on that aspect.

Hint Six – Font

Don’t try and cram your application on two pages using a size 6 font. I recommend using a size 12 font in Arial for the responses and a 14 font in Arial for the headers. This is a crisp, clear font and is easy to read.