Bruce Woodcock - Successful Applications: Work Experience, Internships and Jobs

SUCCESSFUL
APPLICATIONS

POCKET STUDY SKILLS

Series Editor: Kate Williams, Oxford Brookes University, UK
Illustrations by Sallie Godwin

For the time-pushed student, the Pocket Study Skills pack a lot of advice into a little book. Each guide focuses on a single crucial aspect of study giving you step-by-step guidance, handy tips and clear advice on how to approach the important areas which will continually be at the core of your studies.

Published

14 Days to Exam Success (2nd edn)

Analyzing a Case Study

Brilliant Writing Tips for Students

Completing Your PhD

Doing Research (2nd edn)

Getting Critical (2nd edn)

Managing Stress

Planning Your Dissertation (2nd edn)

Planning Your Essay (2nd edn)

Planning Your PhD

Posters and Presentations

Reading and Making Notes (2nd edn)

Referencing and Understanding Plagiarism (2nd edn)

Reflective Writing

Report Writing (2nd edn)

Science Study Skills

Studying with Dyslexia (2nd edn)

Success in Groupwork

Successful Applications

Time Management

Wheres Your Argument?

Writing for University (2nd edn)

SUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS

WORK EXPERIENCE, INTERNSHIPS AND JOBS

POCKET STUDY SKILLS

Bruce Woodcock and Jenny Keaveney

Bruce Woodcock and Jenny Keaveney, under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2019

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

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First published 2019 by
RED GLOBE PRESS

Red Globe Press in the UK is an imprint of Springer Nature Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW.

Red Globe Press is a registered trademark in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.

ISBN 9781352004892 paperback

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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Acknowledgements

A number of people have contributed to this book and we would like to thank them all, in particular the students, graduates and recruiters whose questions and feedback have formed the basis of the advice it gives and our former colleagues at the University of Kent.

We are grateful to Kate Williams and Helen Caunce at Red Globe Press for suggesting this title and for their help and guidance in bringing the book together, and to Sallie Godwin for the illustrations.

Introduction

What are you looking for?

Whatever your hopes, dreams and ambitions for your future, thinking, researching and planning give them a stronger chance of becoming reality.

A successful application is a journey. Like any major journey, it will be varied, exciting and perhaps unpredictable. You may change your plans or take detours along the way. You will learn new things and gain new insights not just about the world, but about yourself too. But, before you start this journey, you have a number of choices and decisions to make.

You may feel overwhelmed by all these choices, but dont panic. You can apply many of the skills you are already using in your studies, such as research, analysis, reflection and planning, to find the answers to these questions. This book aims to help you to think about these questions, make your plans and successfully put them into practice.

About this book

In this book, we use the word job to encompass all the different opportunities you might apply for during your time as a student part-time casual jobs, summer internships, year-in-industry placements, voluntary positions and, in or after your final year, graduate jobs. The same principles underlie all successful applications.

Part 1: You and your goals is about analysing yourself what you enjoy and what you are good at and relating this to jobs and careers to find options that are right for you.

Part 2: Developing your job search strategy is about researching jobs and employers, networking, using social media, finding opportunities, action planning and speculative approaches.

Part 3: Successful CVs and cover letters looks at writing and setting out these documents and how to make yours stand out.

Part 4: Successful application forms looks at tackling the different types of questions on application forms.

Part 5: The interview and beyond moves on to what happens after your application has been submitted, from preparing for interviews to coping with rejections.

Successful Applications is set out in the order of the activities you need to do to make your application successful. You may be tempted to jump straight in to the parts on CVs or application forms, but this would be like trying to build a house without first digging the foundations. Thinking about yourself and your goals, and researching jobs and employers, are the essential foundations of a successful application. Its like producing an essay: researching, reflecting and planning before you start to write will lead to a much more successful result.