Successful Applications

Work Experience, Internships and Jobs

Bruce Woodcock, Jenny Keaveney

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781352004892
• eBook ISBN: 9781350315242
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Counseling in Career Development

Packed with top tips and helpful examples, this concise book takes students through the process of preparing and making successful applications for work placements, internships and graduate jobs. It encourages students to think about what they want from their career and to identify roles which match with their personality, strengths and experiences. Chapters provide practical guidance on researching opportunities, crafting CVs and cover letters and preparing for interviews and assessment centres. This handy guide will be an invaluable resource for all students looking to secure work experience, placements or internships whilst at university, and land the job they want after graduation.

PART
1

YOU AND YOUR GOALS

Whatever you are applying for – jobs, placements, internships or voluntary positions – you want something that is right for you. If a position fits with your positive qualities, your skills, interests, personality and ambitions, you’ll enjoy it more and get more from it.

Think about:

Reflecting on these questions will help you to find opportunities that will suit your interests, personality and abilities well. This will improve your chances of success.

1 What makes you who you are?

We all have our strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Analysing these helps you to make the right choices and apply for them successfully.

What do you enjoy doing?

Do you want a job that interests you? Of course you do! But what makes something interesting for you?

Your interests have already influenced your decisions in life. They have helped you to choose what subjects to study, where to study and what you do in your spare time. You have probably made friends through shared interests. Using these interests in finding careers and jobs will help you to find opportunities you enjoy.

What are your interests?

Use these questions to reflect on what you have done in the past, what you would like to do, given the opportunity, and what you dream of doing. Are there any common themes in your answers?

What do you like to do in your free time?

What clubs and societies have you joined at university?

What courses or modules have you most enjoyed?

What parts of your work experience have you liked best?

What achievement has given you the greatest satisfaction?

What social or political issues most concern you?

If you could swap places with any three people, who would they be and why?

If you were to direct a film, what would it be about?

What is your greatest ambition?

When you are absorbed in an activity, you experience ‘flow’: a sense of energy and engagement, when time flies by and nothing outside what you are doing can distract you.

The figure on the next page shows six broad groupings relating people and work environments, developed by American psychologist John Holland (1997).

Finding a role that corresponds to your group is a good recipe for being able to use your interests in your career.

Imagine you are walking into a room where people from each of the above six groups are already interacting. From the brief descriptions of each group, which three groups do you feel you would be most drawn to? Note them below in order of preference.

Group 1
Group 2
Group 3

Your interests may well overlap two or three groups. For example, an architect may be artistic and investigative, while a financial adviser could be enterprising, conventional and social.

For more about Holland’s groups, and a free online test, see www.123test.com/holland-codes-career-tests

Finding roles and organisations that use your interests, and the strengths and skills they have helped you to develop, will enable you to get the same kind of ‘flow’ in your work that you do from your interests.

What kind of person are you?

Your personality can strongly influence your career choice. Outgoing and independent people may enjoy a sales career but get bored in laboratory research. A police officer has to be resilient, as does a TV producer, or anybody who commutes! Tact and sensitivity are important for helping careers, such as social work, but also help you get on with colleagues.

Look at the figure, and note your three strongest personality traits. For each of the three, give examples of where you’ve used it. Thes...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part 1 You and your goals
• Part 2 Developing your job search strategy
• Part 3 Successful CVs and cover letters
• Part 4 Successful application forms
• Part 5 The interview and beyond
• References
• Useful sources
• Index