Career Development Services
A Department of Learner Support Services
careers@bradford.ac.uk | +44(0)1274 234991
A Department of Learner Support Services
careers@bradford.ac.uk | +44(0)1274 234991
Download a pdf copy of our
Guide to completing an Application Form
What is the purpose of an application form?
Filling in the application form
Writing a personal statement for postgraduate courses or research degrees
Applications for research degrees (eg MPhil, PhD)
Including a covering letter with an application form
Additional resources, including our Application Forms leaflet to download
To give yourself the best chance of making a really effective application, start off with some initial preparation:
Struggling to come up with more than a couple of ideas? Take a blank sheet of paper and under the following headings list everything that you have done in your life, e.g.
If you are still struggling, talk to your friends and family about the different activities you've been involved in across different aspects of your life.
Now the critical bit – for everything you have done think about what you can demonstrate as a result of that experience, i.e. what you have learnt about yourself, what skills you developed, personal achievements etc.
For example, working as a Sales Assistant might have developed your ability to communicate with different people, work under pressure at busy times and handle difficult customers or complaints. A group project in your second year may have enabled you to demonstrate that you could work within a time-scale, set and meet objectives and work as a member of a team.
This knowledge about yourself will also be useful when preparing for interviews, so investing some time now will almost certainly pay off in the future.
If the answer is 'not a lot', how can you persuade the employer you have the skills and qualities they are looking for? Read the job specification, or other information provided about the job carefully, and research the occupation. What is it exactly that the organisation will expect you to do? How can you demonstrate you have the skills that they require within your application? Try and make the employer’s job as easy as possible by clearly showing how you match their criteria.
Why do you want to work for this organisation specifically? Employers realise you would be foolish to apply to only one employer. However, they do expect you to do more than regurgitate the brochure. You need to find out enough about them to show that your interest is more than superficial.
Visit the employer’s own website. Read the vacancy/job advertisement, and obtain any other relevant literature available such as the company’s brochure and the annual report. Check to see if the company is attending any of the events we organise on campus or if they are going to a local careers fair. If you are having difficulty finding information, contact the organisation and ask them to send you some.
Now you've got all the necessary information together, it's time to tackle the form itself.
If possible, allow yourself several hours, and expect to have to come back to it. The first page of any application form usually asks for personal details and the next sections often follow:
Present your qualifications in a way which displays your best results prominently, for instance, by listing your highest grades of each set of examinations at the top of each list. Write down your qualifications in reverse chronological order i.e. the most recent first.
Some forms ask you to give your UCAS points, and if this is not easy for you to do, because of the qualifications you have studied, contact the employer to confirm how to proceed.
Use reverse chronological order for your list, unless the instructions on the form ask you to do otherwise. When writing about what you did in each job, describe your duties and responsibilities bearing in mind any links you can make with the skills the employer is asking for. Include information about voluntary work too.
Make the most of this section by drawing attention to particular achievements you have experienced at work.
If you have insufficient space for all your jobs, group similar jobs together or summarise your experience.
Include what you have gained from your leisure interests and make sure you refer to any responsibilities you have undertaken in connection with your hobbies e.g. Vice Captain of the university netball team, course representative.
Bring out any relevant skills which will be useful in the job. Are there any other achievements you have experienced in other aspects of your life which you could include here too?
Some application forms ask you if you consider yourself to be disabled. Visit www.skill.org.uk for information about disclosing disability, including how to present this information in a positive light.
Application form top tips
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Applying online is increasingly the norm in graduate recruitment and some employers only accept electronic applications. Online applications are just as important as the traditional paper versions, and should be completed with the same amount of care.
There are advantages and disadvantages to applying online. Advantages include:
The disadvantages include:
You will need to spend the same amount of time planning your approach as if you were completing a paper application and follow the same advice.
There are particular features of electronic forms however, which you should be aware of:
The bottom line is that the success of your online application is dependent on the preparation you do beforehand and not on your technical or IT skills!
Application forms are increasingly asking questions that relate directly to the competencies required to do the job. Sometimes these are stated explicitly; sometimes you have to read between the lines. Often the question has several parts to it. These questions are designed to let you “sell” yourself, demonstrate that you possess the skills and personal qualities that the employer is looking for, and to interest or impress them enough to invite you to interview. These questions are often referred to as Competency Based Questions.
The following structure will help you to frame your answers.
Think of the following question:
“Describe a situation where you have worked as part of a team. What was your role? What did you do? How did you overcome problems? What was the outcome?”
Essentially each question (such as above) can be answered by using the same approach as shown below. The percentages (in brackets), are shown as a guide for approximation only.
Here, you are effectively setting the scene in order to describe your behaviour in the particular scenario.
What was going on? What was the problem?
Another alternative structure is the acronym STAR – Situation, Task, Action and Result – similar to above but instead of “Behaviour” put “Task” and “Action”. Sometimes the letter “D” is added at the end (STAR D) – D denotes “what you would have done differently”.
Some questions, e.g. "Describe your most significant academic achievement" have no right or wrong answer, and can make some people feel inadequate i.e. they’ve never been awarded a prize or come top in anything.
This particular question is aimed at finding out what motivates you, or what you value.
It is not the example that you give that is important but whether your answer is relevant and interesting.
Good and bad example for answering application questions
Some application forms leave a large empty space at the end for you to “sell yourself”, in terms of your suitability for the job or course. You might be asked to “provide evidence in support of your application”, including your reasons for applying. This type of section is usually found on application forms for postgraduate courses and on some job application forms.
This part of a form is extremely important and it is a chance to present your strengths to the reader and to show why you are a good candidate. As this is usually a substantial section, take time to plan it so that your information comes across effectively.
Give your statement a clear structure, possibly using sub headings based upon the wording of the question, to enable the reader to see that you have addressed their criteria.
Organisations which tend to have a personal statement section in their application forms include many public sector organisations such as local authorities and the NHS, but private sector companies do have them too.
A typical example of what you are asked to write is:
“In this space please give your reasons for applying for this job and additional information showing how you meet the person specification, including relevant skills and experience.”
Think about what you can bring to the job, paying close attention to the employer’s requirements. The person specification should be kept in mind when you write your statement so that your content is relevant. Some suggestions to include in your statement are:
If you are asked to give your reasons for applying for this job, this can be a good starting point for your personal statement. This is an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the job, your motivation to do that kind of work and your interest in that particular organisation.
Keep the focus of your answer on what you can do for the employer, not what the employer can do for you. This means concentrating on what you can bring to the job, rather than writing about your hopes of a huge salary and frequent trips overseas to exotic locations!
Your degree subjects might be directly relevant to the job, in which case do capitalise on this and emphasise any modules which are particularly useful. If your degree is not relevant, there will still be “transferable skills” you have developed on your course which the employer is likely to be interested in. See the section below on “skills” for more about this.
This is important to refer to, even though you will have recorded this on another part of the form. Experience in the workplace will have given you an appreciation of employers’ perspectives, their business needs and their expectations of their employees. Draw attention to any particular achievements and responsibilities you have experienced at work, unless you have written about these in some detail already elsewhere on the form.
Providing evidence of the skills the employer requires is usually a key part of a personal statement. Make sure that you complement rather than duplicate any sections you have filled in about your skills in “competency based questions”. Give examples of when you have used the skills, but do not go into as much detail as you would in the competency based questions sections, if these occur on the form.
These can show you to be a well rounded person and can also provide evidence of some of the personal qualities and skills the employer is looking for. State what you have got out of hobbies rather than just listing them e.g. have you been able to show leadership ability through your interests, taken part in team based activities or shown initiative?
Keep to any word limits and check to see if you are invited to continue on a separate sheet. Avoid long, complex sentences and be clear and concise. Use positive language and express your enthusiasm for the job. Check your draft statement for spelling and grammatical errors and give it to a friend to read too as it is easy to miss your own mistakes.
Application forms for postgraduate courses commonly include a large space on the final page where you are asked to write a personal statement or asked to provide “evidence in support of your application”.
Sometimes you are given more detailed instructions about what to include in this section, such as in the following example on an application form for taught Masters courses:
“Please give details of any other experience/information which you consider to be relevant to your application and a statement explaining why you feel qualified to study for the degree and how you expect to benefit from it.”
This part of a form is very important and you must use it to show why you are a good candidate for the course. Make sure that you pay close attention to what you are asked to cover in the section. The structure for your personal statement will be determined by what you are asked to include. Divide your text into paragraphs to make it easier for the reader to absorb the information and check that it flows logically. It can be effective to use sub headings to highlight the different components of the statement.
It is likely that the following information will be relevant for you to include:
Writing about what appeals to you about the course will help you to show your motivation to study this subject. The admissions tutor wants to know why this course interests you. Have you studied relevant modules on your current course which have given you a taste of this subject that you want to develop? Or is this a new area of study for you which would give you the chance to take up a fresh academic challenge? Show that you have researched the course and are aware of any recognition it has received for its merits.
Show that you know what the university’s strengths are and be able to say why you would like to study there.
These could include projects you have done, extended essays and research skills. It could also be relevant to include information about IT skills, data handling skills and knowledge of any related subjects. Write positively about what you have done well and highlight your strengths.
There will be a range of “transferable” skills that you will have developed in activities apart from your academic studies, which you can bring to a postgraduate course. These might include skills such as team working, time management, analytical skills and planning skills. Think of others that you have gained too. Write about how you have used these skills so far and how you see them helping you in your postgraduate studies.
Any paid or voluntary work you have experienced, whether it has been part time, full time or vacation work, will have equipped you with valuable skills. The relevance of this experience might be direct or indirect, so think broadly about how you can use this in your personal statement.
You might not have got a clear idea of what your career plans are at this stage, however do include some information about what your thoughts are and how the course will help you to achieve your aims. Some postgraduate courses will have very clear connections with a particular type of work, and if you are applying for one of these show that you have researched your options and know how the course will equip you to apply for jobs in this field.
Take care to write good English with accurate grammar and punctuation. Be positive and enthusiastic, so that your strengths and desire to do the course come across effectively.
This section of the form really gives you the chance to put yourself across as a “rounded” person and should give the reader a clearer picture of why you have applied for the course, what makes you a suitable candidate for it and what you hope to get out of it. End it with an upbeat conclusion, which leaves the reader with the impression that you will be a well informed, keen and committed student with much to offer.
If you are applying for a research degree, rather than a taught postgraduate course, you will usually be asked to include an outline research proposal as part of your application. It is important to discuss your research ideas with your intended supervisor at the university you are applying to, before writing this. It is also recommended that you seek advice from a member of the academic staff who currently teaches you, to gain his or her opinion on your proposal.
Depending on the type of subject you are aiming to research, your application may need to include some or all of the following:
There will probably be notes or guidelines produced to help you to complete the personal statement section of the application form, so do refer to these to make sure that you include all the information that is required.
If you are sending your completed application form through the post or as an attachment, it is a good idea to include a covering letter, particularly if there is something relevant to your application that is not covered on the form.
Including a covering letter also gives you the chance to draw out some of the key information provided in your application form, and expand on why you are a suitable candidate and why you want to work for the organisation. See our CVs and covering letters sections for information on how to write and present a covering letter.
Obviously, if you are completing your form online, where there is no mechanism to send a letter, you do not usually have this option, and do not send a letter if you are explicitly asked not to do this.
Think about the number of application forms a recruiter for a job or course has to read! Make your points come across clearly and effectively by using positive and active language in your application.
Also you might consider using useful words and phrases when filling your application
You can download the PDF version of our Application Forms booklet.
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