[thechat] How to fill out UK job application forms - Round II

[Martin Burns]

On Mon, 16 Sep 2002, Tara Cleveland wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Okay, I'm still working on this application...
>
> There's a section where they've asked applicants to address all of the
> points that they've got on their requirements for the job.  "Please use this
> section to explain how your experience shows that you have the abilities to
> do this job. We suggest that you give evidence about each of the items on
> our person specification." On the online application form, there's big text
> area that you've got to fill out.
>
> So my question is, should this be a point form response to each
> specification or should it be more like a cover letter, in paragraphs? Is
> point form acceptable or not?

Think of yourself in the shoes of the person reviewing the forms. If
they've got to extract the information out of prose, it's going to be much
harder to see the qualities of the person behind it than if it's
blindingly obvious that the person meets the spec.

You could write it in paragraphs, as long as each para is in news style -
start with the most important point, and expand detail through the para.

> BTW, there are 24 separate points on
> the person specification to respond to.

I would give them every single reason you have for them to hire you. Work
out which are the most important ones, though, both positive ("Needs to be
able to do this") and negative ("Can't hire without this")

You also need to think through what are the barriers to you getting the
job, and counter all those potential objections.

Cheers
Martin

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