Hannah Morton-Hedges has 10 years experience as a careers adviser and now runs her own consultancy, Momentum Careers Advice. She also has experience as an in-house recruiter for major blue-chip companies, recruiting from graduate to senior executive level
The employer is not looking for an example so monumental that it changed the course of the company's success: Types of competency questions are very common on application forms, online or otherwise. The theory the employer will be adopting is that if you can show an example of a time you have used that skill in the past, then they have every reason to believe that you will be able to replicate the use of that skill when - or if - you are working for them. Lots of people struggle to think up suitable answers to these types of questions and in my experience, it is because they are over-thinking or over-complicating the question. The employer is not looking for an example so monumental that it changed the course of the company's success. Suitable examples are often the very small things that we are doing day to day in our jobs and, therefore, perhaps totally overlooking as skills. The important things is that you are doing them, you are recognising that you do them and you are aware of their (positive) impact.
If you don't have experiences in the world of work (or work experience) to prove these competencies, don't forget that there is nothing wrong with using examples from extra-curricular activities or from academic situations. They are transferable skills at the end of the day. When you have decided on an example to use, make sure you break it down in to the necessary detail: describe the situation, what did you decided to do, how did you go about this, what skills did you need to apply, what was the finished result, what did you learn from the experience and so on. Aim for a paragraph of about six to eight sentences for each example.
Convince recruiters that you can 'hit the floor running' by giving them examples of similar work experience: Make sure you are familiar with both the job description and the person specification. Remember that it is the person specification that they are looking for you to be able to bring to the job, so they will want to see evidence that you can meet that. I will add, however, that recruiters do tend to be quite risk adverse - they often like to take on people with experience of doing the same types of tasks previously at work - so in this respect it would be foolish to not concentrate on the job description as well. Use your CV to emphasise the areas that you have already done so that the CV reader will be convinced that you would be able to join the company and 'hit the floor running'. If in doubt, don't forget that it is perfectly acceptable to contact the HR department and open a conversation with them about exactly what they will be looking for and how you should address your application. They will appreciate the initiative you have shown and your enthusiasm to 'get things right'.
Human error can occur in the recruitment process so try and ensure you don't get overlooked: Taking a 'this is what you are looking for, and here is how I match it' approach is essential for any successful job search but particularly one in which the employer is looking to use the person spec as a way of directly shortlisting for the role. No one is perfect (even recruiters) and human error can and does occur in the recruitment process, so the best way of ensuring that your skills don't get overlooked is by making it as easy as possible for the recruiter or the person shortlisting to 'find' them in your application. Set out the criteria, and 'answer' it directly underneath. An unstructured page of writing about your career history is unlikely to focus on each of the specifics that they are looking for and could well lose you an interview. Similarly, taking this very focused approach is great preparation for interview stage. Interviews also will often be built directly around the points of the person specification. You are already starting to build your interview answers up if you have approached the personal statement in this very focused way.
My approach for personality questionnaires would always be to be honest in your answers: When applying for a job, while it is always worth being aware of the qualities and skills that the company wants from its employees, so don't fall into the trap of trying to give them the answers they want to hear. This often backfires as the software may be able to pick up on inconsistencies in these answers and that will set alarm bells ringing. If you answer truthfully, you are much more likely to give a consistent message that will be believable to the assessors. Also, try not to over-think the questions too much. Don't dwell on answers - it is often best to go with your immediate gut feeling. We can always think of times when we have worked in a slightly different way to usual because of the particular circumstances of that time, but what they are interested in is how you would usually respond to a particular situation.
Elizabeth Bacchus is a career coach, change management consultant and founder of The Successful CV Company - a CV and cover letters provider
Break down each of the criteria for the role and you'll have a clear and concise personal statement: A personal statement gives you an opportunity to provide specific details relating to the person and job specification advertised, to illustrate how you fit the criteria. Apply a brief paragraph to the beginning on why you are applying for the role and then break down each of the criteria as a heading, with measurable examples underneath of your experience in each of the given areas. You will provide a clear and concise personal statement that is easy for the recruiter to read, keeping within the word and character limit they have.
One size does not fit all when it comes to CVs: Unfortunately a single CV is never going to tick all the boxes, in short, one size does not fit all. We recommend having a core CV and then using this to copy and paste into a tailored CV for each role you apply for. Recruiters are looking for relevant candidates, which is why it is critical to tailor each CV for every application.
Dr Fiona Robson is a senior lecturer in Human Resources Management at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University. Prior to her academic career, Fiona was the HR manager for a public sector organisation
Think about the relevance of previous jobs before writing reams about them: I think the amount of information on each previous job depends upon their relevance to the role you are applying for. It may be useful to provide more information on roles with similar characteristics so that the reader can see how you could contribute to their organisation.
If you are looking for a career change it can be useful to explain the reason for this within your profile: I think personal profiles are particularly important where you don't have directly comparable experience to what the employer is looking for, but where you can show transferable skills. It may also be useful to share any important information which doesn't fit neatly into the normal categories. If you are looking for a career change it can be useful to explain the reason for this within your profile - it may stop them from filling in the blanks themselves.
Clare Whitmell is a business communication trainer who specialises in writing and presentation skills coaching. She also blogs CV writing and job hunting tips on JobMarketSuccess.com
Don't assume a less than perfect work history will count against you: It's a very difficult time to be looking for a job, or to change career. Bring out everything you've got to stand out. That could be work experience, voluntary work, side projects - and make them work for you on your CV or application. Don't get hung up by dates or job titles, and don't assume a less-than-perfect work history will count against you. It won't if you've got enough relevant experience and achievements.
Don't leave questions blank or write 'See CV/letter': I think it's fair to say that if there's the space for something, they're expecting you to fill it. But that's not to say that you should fill it for the sake of filling it. Give concrete examples rather than lots of fuzzy statements. Use quantifers where you can to show the extent and impact of your work (much as you would in a CV, for example). Don't make it easy for them to exclude you. Don't leave questions blank or write 'See CV/letter'. Make sure you give the info they're asking for in the places provided.
Rather than sacrificing readability by shrinking margins and font size (some of us have eyesight problems) I'd suggest these ways of editing down your CV:
- Use what some CV experts call "umbrella themes" for skills/achievement areas. So you have themes by keyword (business development/leadership and so on) or competency area (training/budget management), or key achievement (choose one critical area of your role and a few stories that underpin this)
- Take out unnecessary words, such as "I" and lead with verbs. Write with economy: Launched project (not "I launched project")
- Take out any extra info (irrelevant experience, projects and so on) and leave off job duties to concentrate on achievements and impact
- Don't include references or hobbies
Get to the point: Write concisely. Avoid fluff and unsubstantiated statements. Nothing works better than concrete examples of quantifiable achievements.
Check out all the advice from the live Q&A here.
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