1. Introduce yourself
We want to know why we should choose you, so create a brief overview of your experience and your suitability for the role advertised. Make sure it has enough information to encourage us to read your application in full, but keep it concise.

2. Choose a clear layout
Your application needs to remain clutter-free and easy to read. Make sure that the important information about your skills are included. The last thing a recruiter wants to do is to go hunting for the information that they are looking for, so don’t hide it amongst an array of elaborate job descriptions.

3. Tailor your application
Tailor your application to the role you are applying for. It may sound like a time-consuming process, but making the effort to tailor your application to suit the requirements of the particular job that you are applying for can greatly increase your chances of securing an interview.

4. Keep it error free
It’s deceptively easy to make mistakes on your application and exceptionally difficult to repair the damage once this has happened. As well as checking your spelling and grammar, make sure your employment dates match up and that you’ve provided the right phone number and email address.

Our application form is designed to discover evidence that you have all the essentials and perhaps some of the desirable abilities as well. Your task is to demonstrate that you have these.

Key tips:

• Be sure to read the questions carefully and answer them accurately.
• Ideally you should create a draft response, independent of the application form and check it for spelling and grammar.
• Cut and paste your answers onto the form.
• Keep your answers succinct. Edit them for unnecessary words.
• Your final check should always be to read it through, paying attention to every detail.
• You can close and revisit your application form during the application process, however, once your application has been submitted you will not be able to change it.

Here are some general topics to consider when putting your response together:

• Do you have direct knowledge of our organisation?
• How will your experience in the area of work you are applying for benefit JTL?
• Do you have experience of our industry, competitors, suppliers?
• Why are you likely to succeed in the role that you are applying for?
• Why should we choose you?

Here are some general tips:

• Plan the day of the interview, especially your journey, and aim to arrive ten minutes early.
• Research the role and the organisation.
• Think about how well your experience, interests and skills fit the job and the organisation.
• Research current affairs and trends in your job sector.
• Anticipate questions you might be asked and prepare suitable answers.
• Listen carefully to questions and answer them concisely.
• Highlight your best attributes in the interview. Before you go, think about what you want the interviewer to know about you (in relation to the job) during the interviewing process.
• Pay attention to the way you communicate. There’s evidence to suggest that non-verbal communication overpowers verbal communication, so if you describe yourself as confident and outgoing but speak inaudibly and avoid eye contact, the interviewer will read the latter as indicating a lack of confidence and disregard what you said about being confident.
• Practise anything you’re concerned about. This could involve saying your answers out loud, which builds confidence in hearing yourself speak, or having a trial run of the journey to the interview.