Section 3: Quality of the Written Application

As mentioned at the beginning of this section, your written application is probably the only information a selection panel has about you in order to shortlist, and the quality of it is important in determining whether or not you are shortlisted for an interview.

There are a number of things you can do to ensure that you produce a top quality application.

• Make it as attractive as possible to look at in terms of layout and quality of copy. There's nothing worse than a badly set out or photocopied application.

• Make it easy for the selection panel to find the important information by careful use of:

• titles and headings
• different font sizes
• bold
• underlining
• white space
• point form rather than long paragraphs.

• Pay particular attention to correct use of grammar, spelling, punctuation and language:

• use plain English and short to medium-length sentences
• avoid using jargon, abbreviations or acronyms (e.g. HRS), which may be unclear to some or all members of the panel.

• Be brief but precise.

• Be positive:

• focus on what you can do rather than what you can't do
• use positive language
• don't use qualifying statements, e.g. 'Although I don't have', or 'My experience in .... is limited'.

• Use active rather than passive phrases, e.g. 'I organised a conference' rather than 'A conference was organised'.

• Let the panel know what your role was. Talk about what you've done and use 'I' statements rather than 'We'.

• Make sure that what you write down is a positive and complete picture of you.

• Proof-read it thoroughly and make any necessary corrections or adjustments.

• Try to look at your application from the reader's point of view and ask yourself whether it:

• creates a good impression
• presents all the relevant information about you
• talks in terms of what you can offer to the job rather than what it can offer you
• demonstrates that you are a strong candidate for the position and worth interviewing.

• Have someone who knows you well proof-read it, both for accuracy and content. They may come up with useful suggestions of things you could add.

• If possible, ask someone who doesn't know you well to proof-read it. As well as checking for accuracy and appearance, they may identify things which are unclear, or ambiguous.

• Before sending the application off, check that all the necessary attachments are included, that you've signed the covering letter if you're sending it in hard copy, etc.