Effective Applications

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Effective Applications
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Session covers

• What employers look for in job applications
• How to prepare an effective application
• Recruitment procedures used by employers what,
  when and why
• Application of the above to your own job
  applications

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Activity

• Please discuss
• What do you think employers look for when taking
  on a new employee?

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Employers look for?
Commercial Awareness
Job
Well presented CV
Knowledge
Skills
Sector
Qualifications
Enthusiasm
Work
Professional
Experience
Motivation
Personality
Interests
Life
Voluntary
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Preparation

• Start before you put pen to paper
• What does the employer require?
• What skills,qualifications,experience and
  personal attributes are being asked for?
• Which of these are more important than others?
• Examine the job advert, job description and
  person specification

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Example Person Specification
Area Essential Desirable
Effective Communication X
An appreciation of effective project management X
Able to use own initiative and work independently X
An appreciation of marketing and promotions X
Good IT skills (MS Office) X
Flexible approach to working hours X
Strong organisational and time management skills X
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APPLICATION FORMS THE BLANK A4 PAGE!

• Further Information Describe the relevant
  experience and knowledge you have which meet the
  person specification for this position together
  with your reasons for applying.
• Maximum of 10,000 characters

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STARR Skills Examples

• Situation - Where were you?
• Task - What did you have to do?
• Actions - How did you do it?
• Results - What were the results?
• Reflect - What did you learn?
• Would you do anything
• differently next time?

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BLANK A4 PAGE CONTENT

• Follow a logical structure - make it easy to
  shortlist you by matching the person
  specification closely.
• Introduction (You could write this last)
• Tie together the points made throughout
• State your motivation, attraction to this
  organisation
• A taster of what you can contribute
• Elaborate providing evidence of your experience
  using STARR
• Match to the skills from the person specification
  using Power Words
• Highlight relevant and interesting elements of
  your degree course.
• Finally, inject your personality!

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PRESENTATION

• Follow instructions carefully
• Do a rough copy first
• Keep neat and tidy
• Check spelling and grammar

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Group Task

• You are an employer recruiting for a Graduate
  Management Trainee.
• Your task is to create a Person Specification for
  this post.
• Once you have created the Person Spec. using the
  template, identify how and when you will assess
  whether applicants meet the requirements e.g.
  application form and interview only, or
  Assessment Centre approach.

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EFFECTIVE APPLICATIONS

• How will you apply what you have learned to your
  own job applications from now on?

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Online Resources

• Careers Success Toolkit
• http//dmu.ac.uk/study/undergraduate-study/employ
  ability-and-careers/advice-support-and-guidance.as
  px
• www.prospects.ac.uk
• http//www.prospects.ac.uk/job_application_advice.
  htm