This is the most important and career oriented correspondence that can fetch you lucrative jobs and create winning situations for you. A perfect job application is a tool to highlight your talents and resources, your qualifications and put you on a path to progressive process and learning.
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A good application should help you sell yourself convincingly to your prospective employers. It may not necessarily guarantee you the job but could certainly invite an interview. It should be brief, simple and interesting; clearly present your abilities in a full perspective. Avoid a stereotyped and a drab letter of application. Make it more human and interactive.
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Do’s and Don’ts
It should not be on any letter head bearing the name of a hotel or any company. It should not be on colored or perfumed paper. The paper should not be odd-shaped, wrinkled or dirty. Nor should it be crumbled. There should not be any cuttings or crossings. If handwritten, it should only be in with blue or black pen. Pencils, crayons, red ink, colours etc. are an absolute taboo.
It is most essential that one uses unruled, plain white, standard A-4 size paper. Never make a standard resume which you post to every employer. Your resume would stand out more if you take the effort and the time to make specific, tailor-made, customised resume for different jobs. This way your resume would appear more exacting and befitting to your employer.
Presently there are four to five styles in vogue.
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1. Application as well as the resume in the same letter.
2. Application as a letter with attached resume.
3. Letter-head style which can have a few variations
4. Letter head style.
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5. Performa style.
Apart from these, many companies have their own ‘Resume Page’ on the web and the applicant is required to just go to the site and fill in his data asked in the columns or space provided.
To avoid generalities, always bear in mind the things the intended employer would most want to know about you and frame your communication accordingly; some of which are age, education marital status, training and experience, if any abilities, mode of your working, personality and character and your future ambitions. All this would help him evaluate how effective you would be in the position and also how stable you would be.
Until and unless, it is clearly marked in the advertisement that the people below a certain salary are not competent to apply, salary expected should generally be marked negotiable.
For a person who is just out of college, everything he has done till date is experience may it be being the captain of a college team, theatre, Dance performances on stage, won a Debating event, edited the school Magazine member of a nature club or conservation society, having a literary dimension, having been involved in civic or social causes all these would add to your personality points.
Companies look up to people who can work well in a team, who can associate with people and deliver results. No one would want to hire an arrogant trouble-maker who would be a nuisance for other colleagues.
Even at the Management level, too, the business world needs people who can lead their teams and co-ordinate and co-operate with juniors for optimum results. The leaders are expected to associate with employees at all levels.
Do not give details of your early schooling. Don’t brag. Don’t add post scripts. Never criticize your former employer. Do not share company secrets.