SOAS SKILLS SESSIONS –
HOW TO WRITE EFFECTIE
APPLICATION FORMS
Monday, 3 September 2012
Victoria Wade
Careers Consultant
Objectives of this session:
• To understand:
Why employers use application forms
Why specific questions are being asked
• How to structure effective answers.
• To practise answering specific questions.
Why do organisations use application
forms?
• Increased control of the process
• Focus on relevant areas
• Candidates are compared on a like-for-like basis
• Deters those not prepared to take on the task
Types of question
• Motivational
Explain why you’re interested in a career in …… and in particular,
working for us. What work experience have you undertaken to
demonstrate your interest? (250 words) (Nestle)
• Biographical
For each position, describe your role and responsibilities, telling us
about any areas of key specific responsibility and/or leadership (100
words). (BP)
List the extra-curricular activities you have been involved in during
the last 3 years including the activity type, dates and your
contribution/achievement (Max. 3,000 characters). (Barclays Cap.)
Types of question:
• Industry specific
What is the brand that you most admire in the world? Why?
(Advertising agency, 150 words)
In what ways does Accenture use technology to help its clients improve
their business? (3,000 characters).
• Competency based: look at past behaviour as a guide to
future performance
Give a recent example of a team in which you have been involved.
What was your role? What challenges did you face? (100 words)
Describe a time when you spotted an opportunity and made it happen?
(Unilever, 500 words)
Common competency requirements
•
Communication skills
•
Teamwork skills
•
Enthusiasm & motivation
•
Planning, organisation and
time management skills
•
Interpersonal skills
• Commercial awareness/ Business
acumen
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Initiative
• Independence
• Problem-solving skills
Examples of competencies
• Analysis and problem solving skills • Drive for results
• Collaborative
• Learning and improving
• Good communication skills
• Decision-making
• A strong customer focus
• Constructive thinking
• Performance, drive and results
• Building productive
relationships
• Planning and organisational skills
• Communicating with impact
‘Make your mark in advertising’
• BrandsDirect are a well established but expanding
advertising agency looking for trainee account managers to
work with our exciting portfolio of clients.
• Whilst no previous experience is required, we are looking
for graduates who have a passion for this business. You
must be able to build relationships, manage multiple
projects and make the right decisions in what is a
stimulating but pressured environment.
• If you think you have what it takes, convince us with
answers to the following questions…..
Motivational:
Q1) Why do you want to work for our advertising agency? (200 words)
Competency:
Q2) Describe how you have achieved a goal through influencing the
actions or opinions of others in a team. (175 words)
For, each question, what criteria would you use to assess the
answers given?
Motivational question…….demonstrate your
interest…….
• Your knowledge of….the company’s products, services, clients,
values.
• The research you’ve done? Who you’ve talked to?
• What has the company done recently?
• What does the press say about the company?
• How does it differ from it’s competitors?
Why do you want to work for our advertising agency?
(200 words)
Candidate A
Your organisation is an award-winning leader in its field,
employing 3,000 people globally. It has an international
reputation and is also one of the most respected agencies in
the UK. It is important for me to work for a successful
organisation and I would welcome all the different opportunities
available to me. I would also like to work abroad at some point
and so the global nature of your organisation appeals to me.
Finally, I’d like to work for the organisation because the role
matches my skills, particularly my communication and
teamwork skills. I am a creative person and I am also
interested in developing new skills, and believe that your
graduate account management scheme would help me to
achieve my goals. (122 words)
Candidate B
I have researched BrandDirect’s client-base and am extremely excited by
the thought of working for prestigious brands such as Continental and
L’Oreal. I have been following your recent campaign for the L’Oreal Paris
brand with a great deal of interest. I am particularly attracted to the ‘creative
hot-house’ reputation of the agency as described in Campaign Magazine’s
agency profile of 27 April.
My skills are a good match for the position of account manager. I have
recently been involved with the innovative re-branding strategy of the
student union through a diverse range of media channels, which will help
me to assume responsibility for high-profile campaigns from an early stage.
My organisation skills greatly improved during this time, where I worked with
a range of colleagues to extremely tight production schedules. After
examining your website and attending your presentation at SOAS, I
understand the value of good organisational skills in order to successfully
manage client campaigns.
Finally I have also been impressed by the honesty and enthusiasm of
recently recruited trainees I met at this year’s SOAS Careers Fair who
spoke very highly of the creative culture at BrandsDirect. (199 words)
Q2) Describe how you have achieved a goal
through influencing the actions or opinions
of others in a team. (175 words)
Candidate A
At my internship at LHS Marketing in July 2008, I was asked if I could
assist in the development of the new website. I was asked for my
opinion as a “fresh pair of eyes” and then joined the team of 8 who
were developing the site. After doing a considerable amount of
research of competitive sites, I had a number of ideas including
incorporating a pop-up menu of up-and-coming events. Some of the
team were sceptical of this idea due to the user backlash against popup advertising. The general feeling was that pop-ups were no longer
effective and could actually alienate visitors. This was discussed in
several meetings, and I was convinced that this would be an effective
strategy. I showed them some design ideas and eventually they agreed
to give it a try in the events sections. I then designed the pop-up to
promote various events and some of them have been used. (155
words)
Candidate B
At LHS Marketing in July 2008, I assisted in the development of the
new website. I took it upon myself to conduct an audit of similar
sites and presented my findings to the development team,
recommending the use of ‘pop-ups’ to advertise forthcoming events.
Mindful of industry scepticism regarding their use, I used the initial
project briefing as an opportunity to find out exactly what others’
objections might be. Based on this, I decided to answer those
objections in detail, researched available data on the area, prepared
visual design ideas and presented my case. Despite the team’s
initial concerns, I persuaded them to allocate funds for an initial trial
period, after which we would review the success of the pilot
programme. This compromise seemed to work.
The resulting click-through rates were encouraging and the pop-ups
are now a permanent addition to the website having proved a
successful way of promoting attendance at our events. (154 words)
Candidate B
At LHS Marketing in July 2008, I assisted in the development of
the new website. I took it upon myself to conduct an audit of
similar sites and presented my findings to the development
team, recommending the use of ‘pop-ups’ to advertise
forthcoming events.
Mindful of industry scepticism regarding their use, I used the
initial project briefing as an opportunity to find out exactly what
others’ objections might be. Based on this, I decided to answer
those objections in detail, researched available data on the area,
prepared visual design ideas and presented my case. Despite
the team’s initial concerns, I persuaded them to allocate funds
for an initial trial period, after which we would review the success
of the pilot programme. This compromise seemed to work.
The resulting click-through rates were encouraging and the popups are now a permanent addition to the website having proved
a successful way of promoting attendance at our events. (154
words)
How to answer a competency based question
STAR
Situation: what’s the setting/ background to the story?
Task: what was the task/objective?
Action: what did you do? – emphasis here
what did you have to think about
what was your approach/ steps involved
how did you overcome any problems you encountered
pick up on ‘active’ verbs – eg planned, negotiated, listened
Result – what was the outcome?
‘Tell me about a time when you showed good
organisational skills and the ability to plan effectively.’
Typical competency question scoring
Low scores: 1 & 2
High scores: 3 & 4
• took action without developing
a plan
• evidence of planning and
prioritising
• no evidence of prioritising
• failed to evaluate and manage
resources appropriately
• tools used to achieve e.g.
milestones/ daily schedules
• anticipated resource needs and
used effectively e.g. delegation
• missed important deadlines
• consistently beat tight deadlines
extra commitment if necessary
• failed to cope with difficulties
• coping strategies when things go
wrong
NatCen Social Research
Graduate Research Trainee
Please use the space below to say why you think you are suited to this post and what
qualities you would bring to it. Please add any other relevant information about your
interests and experience that has not been covered elsewhere on this form. (Max 700
words)
Specific Competencies: Competency and definitions specific to this role.
Research Methods:
Communication:
An understanding of research methods that is consistent
with the function and level of the role
Ability to communicate clearly, in different styles and for
different audiences (including reporting).
Project Management: Able to coordinate, manage and juggle a range of project
tasks.
Customer focus:
Acts with client’s needs in mind and values the importance
of providing high quality customer service. Behaves professionally
and builds effective relationships with clients.
Team work:
Is able to work successfully as part of a team and build productive
relationships.
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Applying Online
• download the form and assess requirements
• plan your approach and do your research
• complete the more straightforward areas
• break down the harder questions
• brainstorm possible examples and decide on most appropriate
• draft - evaluate – refine to keep to word count
• get a second opinion
• apply early but submit only when ready
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Top Tips
• be presentable and precise
follow instructions exactly (eg word count)/ answer all questions or state N/A
layout, handwriting, grammar & spelling etc (visual appearance is important)
• be relevant and specific
more relevant: more space,
don’t waffle, no vague assertions (eg’s, facts, figures, give evidence)
• be personal
provide own perspective rather than readily available information
detail research sources
• be positive
make points assertively (if mistakes, say what learned)
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• SOAS careers service website
www.soas.ac.uk/careers
• www.careerstagged.co.uk
• Come in to the careers service and get your applications checked –
room G12
(sign-up on the day or by telephone 0207 898 4115)
Mon-Tues 2.00-4.30pm – Career Adviser
Weds-Fri 2.00pm-4.30pm – CV and Application help
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