- Career Hub
- Future Skills
- Academic planning
- Planning your studies
- How to manage your studies?
- How to plan for your studies?
- How much freedom do you have to modify your studies?
- When to make learning choices within the curriculum?
- How little or how much can you study?
- How can you concentrate on and manage the time of studies?
- How to change specialisations?
- How to study well?
- Planning your studies
- Internship
- International experience
- Career planning
- Take part and grow
How to apply for a job?
As described above, the job application process starts long before you send in your documents. First of all, it is a good idea to do a self-assessment to find out what kind of job suits you, then find the opportunities that interest you and see how your preferences match up with the company and the information in the job offer. If you decide to apply, you will usually be asked to provide the following documents:
- a CV (curriculum vitae) is a short summary for official purposes, mainly about your studies and work history;
- a cover letter or motivation letter complements your CV and gives a short and clear overview of your interests, motivation, skills and previous experience.
The CV and cover letter or motivation letter are complementary application documents that must always be tailored to the specific job offer. If an employer has given further instructions on what exactly they want to see in the application documents, be sure to follow them.
Write your own CV and cover letter. It is fine to use help, but if you ask a companion, a family member, a counsellor for advice, carefully consider the advice you get and make your own choices. When using artificial intelligence, always read the text you receive and adapt it to best describe you. Application documents must describe you personally and tell your story clearly, so that it is easy for employers to pinpoint the skills and experience they are looking for in the right person.
Focus on your strengths. In particular, highlight the knowledge, skills, experience, mindset and personal qualities required for the job you are applying for. Feel free to write down your previous tasks and achievements that relate to the expectations of the job and the employer, either directly or through the general skills required.
Create a structured overview that makes information easy and quick for the reader to grasp.
- Divide information into paragraphs and/or columns, use bullets and subheadings.
- Share information that is appropriate and relevant to the specific job offer.
- In your CV, write as few descriptive sentences as possible, while in your cover letter you should use paragraphs and full sentences.
- Use consistent formatting.
Use clear and correct language. Make sure what you write is relevant, avoid overly detailed descriptions and slang. Check your spelling and use a common font.
Fit your CV on one or two A4 pages. Academic CVs may also be longer. The cover letter should fit on one A4 page.
Give an accurate name to the file. Write your first and last name, the position you are applying for and the title of the document.
Save the documents as PDF files. In this case, when the document is opened on another device, its format remains unchanged.
Use an appropriate email address When applying for a job and for general official communication, it is appropriate to use the address firstname.lastname@… Email addresses containing nicknames and affectionate names should be kept in your inner circle.
Always read your documents before you send them, preferably several times.
Find at least one person who will read your documents before sending them and who will give you reassurance, a second opinion, make suggestions or ask questions. Make any necessary additions to your documents on the basis of the comments received.
