When applying for a job it is really important to include a cover letter, regardless of whether or not there is an application form to be filled out. The latter rarely gives you the opportunity to highlight just why the employer should call you in for an interview, let alone employ you. In contrast, the cover letter allows you to address directly just how you fill the person specification, while your CV can be tailored to fit the job description.
As someone who has been faced with a huge pile of application forms, and needing to whittle them down to the few who will be interviewed, I don't have the time to "read between the lines" of a form or generic CV to see whether or not you have the skills, etc the job requires. That's the quickest way to get on the discard pile, in my opinion. You need you to "sell" yourself to the employer, and the place to do that initially is the cover letter.
During an interview, I think it's important, at some stage, to get in a statement about why hiring you will benefit the organisation (as opposed to why YOU want the job). This gives you an opportunity to show you've done some research into the organisation, and thought about the bigger picture.
And if you don't get the job, don't be too hard on yourself. In a lot of cases it won't be because you weren't at all suitable, but merely that there was someone else in the running who had the edge over you. You have to be realistic about the employment situation, take the opportunities that arise and learn from the experience.
These would be three things I'd stress, but of course there's a lot more to it as outlined in Maria's blog entry
As someone who has been faced with a huge pile of application forms, and needing to whittle them down to the few who will be interviewed, I don't have the time to "read between the lines" of a form or generic CV to see whether or not you have the skills, etc the job requires. That's the quickest way to get on the discard pile, in my opinion. You need you to "sell" yourself to the employer, and the place to do that initially is the cover letter.
During an interview, I think it's important, at some stage, to get in a statement about why hiring you will benefit the organisation (as opposed to why YOU want the job). This gives you an opportunity to show you've done some research into the organisation, and thought about the bigger picture.
And if you don't get the job, don't be too hard on yourself. In a lot of cases it won't be because you weren't at all suitable, but merely that there was someone else in the running who had the edge over you. You have to be realistic about the employment situation, take the opportunities that arise and learn from the experience.
These would be three things I'd stress, but of course there's a lot more to it as outlined in Maria's blog entry
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