Finally you have finished your education and you feel mature enough to start in business. You search the internet, look in newspapers and ask around to see if there are any vacancies available anywhere. After a while you’ll luckily find one. But how do you ensure that you are hired? How do you write a job application letter and how do you leave a good impression?
Writing an application letter
It all starts with that letter you send. An unpleasant letter to read that is full of incorrect language will be immediately rejected. So your letter is a kind of first impression. The correct format of a letter looks like this:
Name
Address Postcode + city
Place, date – Write this in full, so Monday March 19, 2013 and not March 19, 2013.
Recipient’s name
Recipient’s
address Postcode + addressee’s place of residence
Subject – use ‘application vacancy name position ‘ as subject
Salutation – Dear Sir/Madam,
Introduction – Introduce yourself and explain how you were informed about the vacancy. However, never start with ‘I’ or ‘my’
Core – Indicate why you would like to come for an interview and why you would like to work for the company in question. Don’t ‘suck around’ too much, but remain yourself.
Conclusion – Summarize here what you have basically said and mention any applicable or useful information for the employer.
Closing sentence – A sentence you can use is ‘I look forward to your answer’.
Signature
Name
Before you decide to send your letter, please review the following checkpoints :
- The letter clearly shows my ambition and motivation.
- My letter has a creative and catchy opening sentence.
- The content of the letter addresses the position and I have omitted irrelevant information.
- My letter looks fresh and is clearly laid out.
- The letter contains no spelling errors.
The last point in particular is one of the most important. Check carefully whether you have written your words correctly. Think especially of ‘d’ and ‘t’.
Curriculum vitae
In many cases you will be asked if you want to send a CV. Creating a good CV can take some time. The structure of a CV looks like this:
- Personal details. Enter all your personal information here.
- Educations. Write down all the training you have completed here. At the very top is your last training and at the bottom is your first. You also mention the courses you have not completed.
- Work experience. Just like the courses, you start with the last employer and end with the first. State the name of the company you worked for and indicate what position you had there.
- Courses. If you have taken courses that are relevant to the position you are applying for, please indicate these.
- Other. Please indicate other information that you think is important for your position under other. Sometimes you are asked to name your hobbies or your leisure activities. You do this under Other.
Don’t just use your old CV! This is no longer relevant and substantive to the position in question!
Prepare questions
After a few days you will be invited for a job interview. You only get one chance to show your qualities and leave a good impression. Good preparation can certainly contribute to this. Think about what answers you will give to the following questions:
- What is the reason why you resigned/were fired from your previous employer?
- Why do you think we should hire you?
- What do you think are the core qualities we would like to see in someone?
- Why do you want to work with us?
- You just indicated that you want to work with us because of ‘mention your stated reason for the previous question’ . There are countless companies that offer the same thing. Then why do you choose us?
And of course there are hundreds of questions you can expect. Think carefully about the answers.
Look up information and take it with you
It is always useful to read the website of the company in question the day before the interview. Perhaps this contains information about projects they are currently working on or interesting information. When you are asked if you know what the company does, you partly know the answer. This shows that you are interested in the company and that always comes across well.
You can also bring a folder to the interview in which you can, for example, contain a notepad, CV and information about the company. This looks professional and arouses interest.
Clothing
Make sure you wear nice clothes. This does not necessarily have to be a suit, but a neat blouse and jeans with matching shoes is of course desirable. It depends on the position and company how formally you should be dressed. You have to assess this yourself.
Catered
Make sure you look neat. For men, this means a shaved chin, for example. Avoid tattoos and piercings and don’t wear huge earrings. Don’t eat a bowl of garlic beforehand, but make sure you have fresh breath. It also helps to get a nice smell. When sweating, this covers the sweat odor.
During the conversation
To give a good impression during the conversation:
- Give a good handshake and introduce yourself clearly.
- Stay calm and don’t make inappropriate comments.
- Don’t be distracted by what’s happening outside, but keep looking at the person you’re talking to.
- Please indicate clearly if you have not understood or understood something. Don’t make up answers.
- Stay honest.
- Stay yourself.
You must apply everything mentioned above to the position you are applying for. Some positions require different information on your resume and some companies may expect a more formal letter than others. Estimate this yourself!