Writing a Good Statement for Job Application Forms
If you complete job application forms for local authorities or the judiciary, they often come with a supporting statement, statement of qualities, information to support your application, etc.. etc.. These are all the same thing, and there is a simple technique for ensuring successful completion.
1. Take a note of all the specifications from the job description.
2. Use these specifications to put together a bullet pointed list.
3. Each of the specifications should be a heading in the bullet pointed list.
4. Underneath each heading, include hard quantifiable evidence to support your application.
A very quick example: Job Specification Point 1 – Excellent Communication Skills
Entry on your statement:
Excellent Communication Skills
- Experienced advocate with over 100 completed summary trials to date.
- Public speaker used to speaking to audiences of 10-200 people.
- Regularly participating in over 400 weekly management meetings and training sessions 2001-2012.
And so on. This makes the statement very easy to score and for the HR assistant or admin person to see that you fit the specification. One of the main problems with completing these forms is applicants do not know how to tailor their applications to fit the spec. Using this simple technique makes it much easier to stay ‘on message’.
As it happens (!) Ten-Percent Legal Recruitment offer an application review service – for details please visit www.ten-percent.co.uk/careersshop
