Graduate Toolkit
Application forms
An application form may be your first point of contact with an employer. Employers often receive hundreds of application forms and may spend only a few minutes reading each one or even have an AI system do an initial sift. Therefore, it is essential that first impressions are positive. A good application form takes a considerable amount of time to complete and this should be clear to the person reading it. It should be well thought out and properly constructed.
The recruiter will be trying to determine your suitability for the opportunity that you are applying for. The application form will ask questions to determine how and where you have acquired the skills required for the opportunity as well as establishing your motivations for applying to the role.
Application forms are the ideal opportunity to make you stand out against all others who are applying for the same role. The graduate market is currently one of the most competitive, a carefully completed application form can be the key to obtaining an interview or an invitation to an assessment day.
Watch Graduate First's video on what makes a good application
Research the job and plan
- Research the job to find out about the necessary requirements and person specification. Begin by highlighting the essential and desired competencies for the role before planning answers to the questions.
- Map out how you’re going to meet the requirements across your answers to the application form questions.
- Use resources such as the company/organisation website; news articles or social media to research the company. If there isn't a detailed job description of personal specification, read the appropriate occupational profile on Prospects to develop your understanding of what the role may entail and what skills may be required.
When identifying the key competencies, the employer is looking for on an application form (or on multiple application form questions) consider planning this out in a table so you do not miss out on any of the core competencies required.
Example table
| Essential competencies | Examples |
| Communication skills | As a future maker during my third year at university, I had to communicate with thousands of students from different backgrounds. This included presentations, giving careers advice, and communicating via email. |
| Organisation skills | Last year I worked as a part-time barista in Starbucks. I was responsible for organising the team rota and scheduling deliveries to the store. |
| Meeting deadlines | Being able to meet course/project deadlines alongside working as a part-time tutor for younger students in which I had to meet certain deadlines. |
| Working autonomously | As a part-time tutor I had to plan lessons independently and create my own engaging and innovative content. |
Assess what type of questions you need to answer for this application
Application form questions can come in a variety of forms. There may be some simple personal information to fill out as well as a mixture of short to medium length questions. These can be skills/competency related questions, motivational based questions or other types of questions testing your technical skills or exploring your strengths.
Skills based questions
A skills-based question is your chance to convince the recruiter that you have the required skills for the role. Rather than just stating you have the skill, you need to provide evidence. This can be done by providing a detailed example of a time when you have developed or demonstrated the skill.
Example question: Describe a situation where you have demonstrated effective communication skills
Unless the question directly asks you to provide several examples it is best to focus on one really strong example. You can then describe that one example in detail. When you describe an example in a skill question, you need to make sure the recruiter gets a clear understanding of how well you displayed the skill. They will be looking for:
- What action you took
- How successful it was
- What have you learnt from this example that you could bring to the role.
To help ensure your answer provides a clear vision and covers these areas we suggest that you use the STARS model.
- Situation – Set the scene and give the necessary details of your example
- Task – Describe what your responsibility was in that situation
- Action – Explain exactly what steps you took to address it
- Result – Share what outcomes your actions achieved
- Self-reflection – How did you reflect upon this experience/what did you learn?
Watch a Guardian jobs videos to familiarize yourself with the STARS model
Look to allocate roughly 20% of your answer to the situation and task sections and the remaining 80% to the latter two parts. The focus of your answer needs to be on your actions and the result of those. Many students and graduates make the mistake (both on application forms and in interviews) of giving too much description of the situation and task. Keep this relevant yet brief and use a range of suitable action verbs to show how you acted.
Motivation based questions
You are also likely to be asked questions about your motivations for applying to the opportunity. You need to ensure that your answer is tailored to explain your reasons for applying to that specific organisation and opportunity. Remember, if you could substitute the name of the employer or organisation, then you have not tailored your answer sufficiently.
Avoid clichés (generic, over-used and ‘not very interesting’ sentences/phrases) to describe your motivations. Try to be specific and original regarding your motivation; for example: I’ve always wanted to be a computer scientist.
Examples of motivation based questions
- Why have you applied to our organisation?
- Why have you applied for this role?
- Why do you want to work in this sector?
When answering
Consider what values you share with the company. Do not just say you want to work for them because they are successful as there are many successful companies and this doesn't explain why that would be relevant to you. Your reasons need to be specific and should relate back to your own demonstrable values or experience where possible. Keep asking yourself why you like the company, what stands out about them and what is it that makes successful and differentiates them.
Also consider how your overall career and education ambitions fit into the company or organisation. An employer is looking for information about your past and future that would make you a good fit for the company or role.
You should be enthusiastic about why you want to work for the company and about how you hope to put the skills you have to good use within the role, such as: why does your skill-set fit with the role or organisation?
You need to demonstrate to the employer that you have a good understanding of what the role involves, what the aims/strategy of the company are and what is going on in the wider sector. For example, you might wish to work in this role because you know there are specific changes on the horizon which the company will need to adapt to and you want a role which is challenging and diverse. You could then reference an experience where you have demonstrated your adaptability or resilience.
For further advice and guidance, book in for a one-to-one application coaching appointment with one of our advisors. To book an appointment, login to your graduate MyCareers account.