There are many seemingly obvious things people get wrong when applying for a job! In the past month, I have been involved in the recruitment of three new people to our team, two of whom I will be line managing. This has meant reading 161 applications and interviewing 13 short-listed…>
Jobseeking and Interview Tips
Succeeding At Internal Interviews
Succeeding in an internal interview can seem like a breeze. You know the people. You understand the organisation, and you have a successful track record that should speak for itself – right? This can lead to a false sense of security, a lack of proper preparation and underperformance on the…>
The Realistic Academic Job Hunter
Today’s extremely competitive academic job environment can cause a great deal of heartache for the would-be academic. Here I want to add a few words of advice about how to maintain a methodical and pragmatic approach to looking for a job, particularly when the field is so challenging and the…>
Top 10 Questions To Ask At A Job Interview
Deciding on questions to ask the interviewer can be one of the most stressful parts of the interview process. Often candidates hurry through this part, relieved to have the job interview over as quickly as possible. Others ‘go through the motions’ by asking unoriginal questions to fill the time. Asking…>
Interview questions tool
If you are invited for an interview, try using our handy questions toolkit to practise a wide range of common interview questions and suggested responses. This will help you prepare in advance and be equipped to answer a wide range of competency, motivation and biographical questions, whether the interview is…>
Top 5 Academic Interview Answers
This article will list the most common academic interview questions for lecturer positions and suggest a possible answer to them. The examples of good answers are not the only options. There are, of course, many other ways of successfully answering these questions. These are suggestions to get you to think…>
Top Ten Tips for Writing Cover Letters
Your covering letter is a key part of your job application. It is an important document to a prospective employer. It is surprising that jobseekers often pay scant attention to it. Many candidates fail even to write one and only submit their CV or application form. Craft a strong covering…>
Match Your Skills to the Person Specification
Completing job application forms can be a long and boring process, especially if you are applying for several jobs at once. However, it is vital that you use the application form and covering letter to show that you are the ideal person for the job. One way to do this…>
Employability: What Are Employers Looking For?
What is employability? There’s a lot of talk about employability in the recruitment community as competition for jobs in all sectors intensifies. But what does it mean? The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES)[1] gives the simplest and most accessible definition of employability in terms of skills: ‘the skills…>
10 things NOT to do on your CV
Your CV is a marketing tool that needs to stand out. This document will be the first impression the recruiter or employer has of you. Large corporations, as well as smaller organisations, are using an application tracking system (ATS) to screen candidates’ CVs. To get through to the next stage…>