Help with job hunting! Application questions

joesmith

joesmith

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I'm currently applying to graduate schemes, but I am struggling with answering certain types of questions on application forms, so thought I'd ask on here for advice and tips.

Questions I particularly struggle with are questions asking to give an example of a time when..., like this:
"Give an example of a time when you have taken ownership for your personal development outside of your degree studies. What were the benefits of doing this and how have you used this skill / knowledge since."

That question is for a job I am really interested in, so I need to get it right, but I simply don't know how to answer it. Obviously I'm not expecting anyone to answer it for me, but I'm just after some advice/tips on how to go about answering it.

Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
 
Have you, during the time you've been studying, gotten off your butt in an attempt to learn, or do, something new, that you weren't told to or is unrelated to your study area. If so, what was it you did, what did it teach you, and how and you apply the thing that you learnt?

Presumably, if you've done nothing beyond what you've been told to do whilst in the world of acedemia, you're going to struggle to offer an example.
 
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Did you do any voluntary work? Did you travel overseas to gain experience? Give examples of how you did different things so that you could gain further experience in your chosen field. How did you achieve this? What did you gain? Was it worth it? Did you pass this information on to others? Blah blah blah. They are looking to see if you have any initiative or do you only do what you have to and no more?
 
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Shine On said:
Have you, during the time you've been studying, gotten off your butt in an attempt to learn, or do, something new, that you weren't told to or is unrelated to your study area. If so, what was it you did, what did it teach you, and how and you apply the thing that you learnt?
Click to expand...


Ever thought of writing questions for job applications ? :D
 
As above. Did you do a gap year? What did you do during it? Did you travel? Where? Did you contribute to anything for the benefit of other people? What did you get out of it (not money, this is about gaining skills, experience, maturity, and learning about yourself)? What did you do during university breaks? Work experience in any field? Activities that helped you to develop a sense of responsibility? Did you do any of these things on your own initiative? What did you get out of them? Why is it relevant to your application?

I think you've got enough to be going on with, but questions like this shouldn't throw you. You need to think about interview skills too, you're probably going to be asked similar - and challenging - questions, and the interviewer will expect you to answer straight away.
 
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"During my final year at university I played an active part in editing the student newspaper/captaining the rugby team/running the am dram society (or whatever) this responsible position gave me considerable scope for proactive personal development and honed my skills in areas such as people management/marketing/organisation (etc) which will be directly transferable to the position of graduate womble fluffer for which i am applying"

2 provisos

a) don't tell lies - you'll get caught out, and

b) but if (like me) an honest answer would be "during my final year at university i spent much of my time drinking beer and picking up gullible freshers , this enabled me to hone my skills in mixing drinks, picking up chicks, and sub duvet aerobics " you may not want to give that answer either. Even if your biggest university acheivement was finishing Battlefeild 3 in time to actually get to lectures there must be some area of your life in which you have done something self taught, like photography for example.

At the end of the day what they are really asking is " demonstrate to us you arent a complete slacker and can actually work on your own initiative"
 
Google "Criteria based interview", for that's what that question is. the theory is an interviewer / prospective employer can deduce how you would be likely to react in a given situation based on past performance/experience. (Personally, I think it is b****x, but same questions asked of all) ... therefore think of lots of scenarios because everyone tries to shoe example B into question A, and then when asked question C think "ah b****x", should have used B there...

Craziest interview i ever held (as interviewer) was.. "Can you tell me about a time when blah blah blah"... "no" for 3 of the 7 criteria similar answer and then "any questions for me?.. "Yes, when will I find out?"..... erm i could tell you right now...

Whatever though, do not make up some b******t answer because, after the initial questio, they (should) probe a bit deeper .. i.e. What did YOU do, not the team.. how did Fred react when you told him to do X... why did you choose that method? What consequences do you think in may have had.. how did John take the bad news?

etc etc...
 
'womble fluffer' Thanks for that :)

Personal development would include sports clubs and so on. Did you take part in any competitions, training?
 
Thanks for the replies, particularly Pete (big soft moose) and Lynton for your very helpful answers (y)
 
Or google "competency based questions" (same thing as above really but terminology may vary).
When I interview I am looking for critical thinking, logic and evidence of its use. When you are replying to this style of question you may find it useful to think in the following structure STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result), this will give you a solid structure to demonstrate what you can do.
What are the key performance indicators for the job you want? How will you convince the interviewer with evidence that you can meet or exceed them?
Good luck
 
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