HOW TO EXCEL IN YOUR JOB APPLICATIONS:
A GUIDE FOR SCHOOL LEAVERS.
When it comes to applying for jobs as someone who is fresh out of school, it is possible to feel that you are at a disadvantage to other applicants who may have completed a course at university/college.
Despite the job advert saying that the role is entry-level and no prior experience or knowledge of the job is required, it can still feel as though you are going to be at a disadvantage.
However, this shouldn't put you off in any way, as times change more and more positions are being made available to school leavers, this allows the employer to train up their new employee in their own way. Training new employees up in a specific way, may be easier with someone who is new to the industry rather than someone who has possibly spent 4 years studying in a generic style at university/college.
As well as this reassurance that you are more than capable of being successful in your application, there are a few things you can physically do to increase your chances of overcoming all types of competition and being successful when going through the process of applying for a job opportunity.
1. Read and understand the job advert
By slightly adapting your applications for different jobs to be more focused on that specific opportunity, you can increase your chances of making it further through the application process. Therefore, my first tip is to read over the job advert to try to work out what the employer is looking for by then re-organising and slightly adapting your CV and interview answers to meet this. By changing words here and there on your CV and covering letter based on the job advert and description, will help you be identified as someone who a) has a CV that has connections with the role/industry you are applying to and b) has taken the time to prepare to apply for the role and tailored their approach, which shows that you are eager to work hard to get the job.
2. Make yourself stand out from other applicants
When there are a lot of applicants for a job, the best way to get noticed is by having a unique feature that makes you stand out from other candidates and be remembered by whoever completes the initial sift of applications. This could be a uniquely designed CV, a colourful personal website or a cover letter that is worded completely differently from any other and immediately grabs the attention of the reader. For me, creating a personal website is one of the best decisions I have made. A personal site is somewhere for you to have a CV that is on the internet for anyone to see at any point. As it is a website you can make it look more fun with images and links to social media pages, and it allows other people to see who you are and what you are interested in. You can create your own website by using free tools such as Wix or Webador and then use a link to your site when applying to jobs (along with a formal CV of course!).
3. Prepare for an interview from the beginning
From the very beginning of the application process, make sure you are prepared to get all the way to the interview stage, this includes making sure you are going to be available to attend an interview as well as preparing for different types of questions you may be asked. Imagine you make it all the way to getting an interview and then, because you only have a night or two to prepare, you end up having a bad interview leaving you wishing you "had been given more time to prepare". However, in this case, the reality is that you could easily have been preparing for it long before being told you had an interview! By being prepared for an interview, you are maximising your chances of making a good first face-to-face impression. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
4. Research the company on LinkedIn
Do you have a LinkedIn profile? Because you certainly should have! If you set one up you can start connecting with people you already know as well as making new connections with people in the industry you are interested in, but how will this give you the advantage when applying for jobs? Well, LinkedIn is full of businesses who regularly post, especially businesses who are looking to modernise the face of their company. You can use this to your advantage because you can get a good idea of what the company has been up to recently, what the company likes to share with its followers as well as being able to see any of the company's employees who are also on LinkedIn. All of these will help you create a better image in your head of what the company you are applying to is like, which will therefore give you the upper hand in the application over someone who hasn't done their research.
Conclusion
It's important to remember that you can only control so much of a job application. You can't control who employers select as successful candidates or if they even select you for an interview, those decisions are completely in the hands of the employer.
However, you can definitely have an impact on things like how you come across in your cover letter, how your CV stands out from other applicants and the employer's first impression of you at the interview.
By implementing the above, as well as numerous others which can be found online, you can be confident that you have controlled everything at your end and therefore put yourself in the best position to get the job, regardless of the outcome.
By Euan Welsh, DYW Young Board Member
Despite the job advert saying that the role is entry-level and no prior experience or knowledge of the job is required, it can still feel as though you are going to be at a disadvantage.
However, this shouldn't put you off in any way, as times change more and more positions are being made available to school leavers, this allows the employer to train up their new employee in their own way. Training new employees up in a specific way, may be easier with someone who is new to the industry rather than someone who has possibly spent 4 years studying in a generic style at university/college.
As well as this reassurance that you are more than capable of being successful in your application, there are a few things you can physically do to increase your chances of overcoming all types of competition and being successful when going through the process of applying for a job opportunity.
1. Read and understand the job advert
By slightly adapting your applications for different jobs to be more focused on that specific opportunity, you can increase your chances of making it further through the application process. Therefore, my first tip is to read over the job advert to try to work out what the employer is looking for by then re-organising and slightly adapting your CV and interview answers to meet this. By changing words here and there on your CV and covering letter based on the job advert and description, will help you be identified as someone who a) has a CV that has connections with the role/industry you are applying to and b) has taken the time to prepare to apply for the role and tailored their approach, which shows that you are eager to work hard to get the job.
2. Make yourself stand out from other applicants
When there are a lot of applicants for a job, the best way to get noticed is by having a unique feature that makes you stand out from other candidates and be remembered by whoever completes the initial sift of applications. This could be a uniquely designed CV, a colourful personal website or a cover letter that is worded completely differently from any other and immediately grabs the attention of the reader. For me, creating a personal website is one of the best decisions I have made. A personal site is somewhere for you to have a CV that is on the internet for anyone to see at any point. As it is a website you can make it look more fun with images and links to social media pages, and it allows other people to see who you are and what you are interested in. You can create your own website by using free tools such as Wix or Webador and then use a link to your site when applying to jobs (along with a formal CV of course!).
3. Prepare for an interview from the beginning
From the very beginning of the application process, make sure you are prepared to get all the way to the interview stage, this includes making sure you are going to be available to attend an interview as well as preparing for different types of questions you may be asked. Imagine you make it all the way to getting an interview and then, because you only have a night or two to prepare, you end up having a bad interview leaving you wishing you "had been given more time to prepare". However, in this case, the reality is that you could easily have been preparing for it long before being told you had an interview! By being prepared for an interview, you are maximising your chances of making a good first face-to-face impression. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
4. Research the company on LinkedIn
Do you have a LinkedIn profile? Because you certainly should have! If you set one up you can start connecting with people you already know as well as making new connections with people in the industry you are interested in, but how will this give you the advantage when applying for jobs? Well, LinkedIn is full of businesses who regularly post, especially businesses who are looking to modernise the face of their company. You can use this to your advantage because you can get a good idea of what the company has been up to recently, what the company likes to share with its followers as well as being able to see any of the company's employees who are also on LinkedIn. All of these will help you create a better image in your head of what the company you are applying to is like, which will therefore give you the upper hand in the application over someone who hasn't done their research.
Conclusion
It's important to remember that you can only control so much of a job application. You can't control who employers select as successful candidates or if they even select you for an interview, those decisions are completely in the hands of the employer.
However, you can definitely have an impact on things like how you come across in your cover letter, how your CV stands out from other applicants and the employer's first impression of you at the interview.
By implementing the above, as well as numerous others which can be found online, you can be confident that you have controlled everything at your end and therefore put yourself in the best position to get the job, regardless of the outcome.
By Euan Welsh, DYW Young Board Member