Personal statements for university

Personal statements for university by Amber Rolfe Applying for university can be a stressful time… Not only do you have to decide on a subject you want to spend three years of your life doing, you also have to be one of the chosen few to make it onto your number one choice of course and university.To make sure you’re selling yourself effectively, here’s everything you need to know about writing your personal statement for university, and a personal statement example to help you get started:What is a personal statement for university? A personal statement for university is a key part of the UCAS application process.It involves writing about your skills, experience, and ambitions â€" in order to persuade your chosen university that you’re a suitable applicant for their course.Essentially, it shows how your academic achievements, extracurricular activities, and other relevant experience has made you interested in taking the course.How long should a personal statement for university be? Although it’s sim ilar to a personal statement for your CV, personal statements for university are slightly longer and more detailed.According to UCAS, a personal statement should be no more than 4000 characters.How should I structure my personal statement for university? Unlike a CV, it’s important to structure your personal statement in clear paragraphs (usually around three or four) â€" rather than one block of text.Although you won’t need to follow a set structure, here’s a rough guideline of how you could order your personal statement for university:Reasons for wanting to studyWhy you’re suitableHow your current study is relevantYour related hobbies and interestsYour skills and achievementsWhen do I need to submit my personal statement for university? Your personal statement should be submitted along with the rest of your application by the deadline given by UCAS.This will vary depending on your course and university choice, but most are expected to be sent off by the 15th January on the year you’re looking to start â€" with some art and design courses extending a later deadline (24th March).However, courses at Oxford or Cambridge (along with courses in medicine, dentistry, veterinary or science) will require students to submit their applications earlier â€" by the 15th of October (the year before your course starts).Any applications submitted after the 30th of June will go into clearing. UCAS clearing: How does it work?How to write a personal statement for university Writing a good personal statement is vital if you want to be accepted into your chosen course.And although there aren’t any set rules on how to write one, there are a few things you should always cover. Not only will this ensure you’re selling yourself effectively, it’ll also demonstrate your passion and enthusiasm about the course you’re applying for.Here’s a guideline of what you should include:Reasons for wanting to study. First things first, you need to explain why you’re interested in the course. This involves being specific, whilst demonstrating enthusiasm. Talk about what you like about the subject, how your interest developed, and how it would help you towards achieving your long-term career goals.Why you’re suitable. Not only do you have to want to do the course, you also have to fit the criteria. This means that explaining why your skills and experience are relevant is vital. To really impress, always ensure you’ve done your research and are aware of what the course involves. That way, you can be more specific about how you match up.How your current study is relevant. Even if the subjects you’ve studied in the past aren’t exactly the same as your chosen university course, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t taught you the skills needed to progress into a different field. Make the most of these in your personal statement.Your related hobbies and interests. Hobbies are a great way to show that you’re a well-rounded person. Possible examples could be a nything from clubs and societies, to summer schools, online courses, or even just museum/gallery/theatre visits. Any wider reading and/or research around your chosen subject could also be mentioned here.Your skills and achievements. Admissions tutors aren’t only interested in you telling them your most impressive (and relevant) skills and achievements, they also want to how you got them. This means that providing examples is essential â€" whether it’s referring to how you developed your communication skills in group projects, or how you worked in a team.Your work experience. Whether its full or part-time work, temporary placements, or internships â€" work experience teaches you a range of practical skills. Discuss the roles that are most relevant to your course and explain how studying at university would help you get the career you want.How can I make my personal statement stand out? With university places in high competition, your personal statement gives you the perfect oppor tunity to key to stand out.So how can you do it right? Here are a few tips:Make it relevant â€" remember: there’s a character limit. Don’t waste space on details that have no relevance to your chosen course and career path.Show how you’re unique â€" through your own examples, independent research, and personality.Present a good balance of academic and extra-curricular credentials â€" but don’t feel like you have to include hobbies if you don’t have any.Make it engaging (whilst avoiding clichés) â€" lines like ‘I was born to be a dancer’ are definitely not unique, and generic clichés like this might risk mildly irritating the admissions tutor.Think outside the box â€" let’s face it, no one wants to read through thousands of English students talk about how Shakespeare opened their eyes to poetry. Avoid the obvious, and think laterally.Personal statement for university exampleIm applying to do a degree in English language because the modules involved will help me to e xpand on what Ive learnt in school and college, and eventually start a career in writing. As an active blogger with an interest in entering a career in the media, I was particularly attracted to the module, language in the media â€" as well as language, society and power.Ive always been interested in reading, writing, and analysing language. Whether its listening to different dialects and colloquialisms, understanding the ways adverts use words to sell a product, or even just reading a book â€" language has many uses.As a hardworking student with an ability to meet deadlines and produce work to a high standard, I think I would be able to put my skills to good use in this course. As I have a proficiency in language and a keen interest in learning more, this course would be a perfect fit.Having studied English Language at A level and GCSE, I have built a strong knowledge base around it. As demonstrated in my most recent assignments covering language development and language change ove r time, Ive gained an active interest in understanding words and meaning on a new level.Im an active fashion blogger and have my own website, where I post articles weekly whether its reviewing new products or just talking about my life. I also helped out in writing a monthly newsletter at school, where I used my writing skills to keep students up-to-date with news and events.My ability to work well in a team has been demonstrated in a number of group projects. Not only did I develop my communication and skills, I also learnt how to negotiate and juggle tasks. Im also particularly proud of my creative writing ability, which has been shown and expanded on throughout a number of essays and assignments (as well as my own blog). Im also extremely organised, with a high attention to detail.View all available university coursesShould I go to university?Looking for more advice?  View all personal statement examples now.  Find a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSig n up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Personal statements School leaver advice

How to Run an Effective Interview Process

How to Run an Effective Interview Process So far we’ve discussed the overall recruitment process and the role a recruiter should play in the process. In this post I’ll give an overview of what businesses should be considering going into a recruitment process and in turn how to maximise what they get out of said process. Goal of the Process Job Description; Interview Process, Feedback and Testing; Goal of the interview process The goal of most recruitment processes and in turn, the interview process are usually very similar: Identify the best person for a specific position; Evaluate candidates against a set of technical and behavioural criteria to remove as much uncertainty as possible; Make an informed hiring decision that will be the best fit for the specific role, overall business culture and the future employee; I’ll go into a little more detail on each in the sections below however thought it worthwhile highlighting at the start. Job Description From a hiring manager’s point of view a job description is very much like a cheat sheet in a timed exam at university. That is, it is the process of putting the job description together that yields the most benefit, rather than necessarily the end document. Writing everything down and challenging each point is a great way to work out: What experience is absolutely essential for this position? What would be great to have, but could live without if the candidate is strong in other areas? What would be nice to have? From a candidate’s point of view, it helps them: Understand what the job is and where it fits into the business; Identify potential areas of concern in their own experience; Identify growth potential within the job; Decide if they really want the job; Most importantly, a job description allows you to, at least, start meeting the first two goals of the interview process. One other point on writing a good job description is to consider your target audience. If the perfect candidate was reading it and knew nothing else about the position apart from what is included in the description, would they think it was a good opportunity? Interview Process, Feedback and Testing Unless you are recruiting a short term temporary position, my view is that for the majority of roles, running at least a 2 stage process is a good idea, and where possible have those interviews with a gap of a few days. Putting space between the first interview and either an offer or a second interview is much like a cooling off period when you buy a car or a house. It gives everyone the opportunity to get comfortable with the decision and reduces any associated buyer remorse. Moving on. To minimise the impact if someone turns down a job offer, you always want to have 2 or 3 people at different stages of the process that you can see yourself hiring. At each stage of the process, be that one or more interviews, you really need to: Assess candidate’s technical capability; Assess candidate’s organisational fit; Present candidates with the training and development opportunities of working for your business; Give candidates an insight into the working culture within the business; Good candidates are in high demand so, if the place your work looks less like Google and more like a small accounting firm, you need to spend time making sure candidates know all the great things about working for your business and why it is better than the next best available alternative. By the end of each round of interviews you should have a clearer idea of: Whether you could hire someone; What concerns, if any, you have about each candidate so you know what to focus on in future interviews; What is equally important in the initial stages of a process is to relay timely feedback on to candidates regardless of if you are progressing with them or not, for the following reasons: Candidates who are exiting the process have set aside a considerable amount of time to meet you and giving them something to take away from the process will help ensure they exit with a positive impression of you and the business; Candidates who are progressing will make an effort to address the areas of concern and will alert you to experience they may have otherwise thought irrelevant; Giving candidates the opportunity to address areas of concern will give you more information to make a decision and in turn greater confidence in your hiring decision; Psych testing is becoming more and more common and is done for a few different reasons: Personality test â€" to help determine the best management style for people; Numerical / verbal reasoning â€" helps hiring manager understand candidates problem solving ability; There are others however those are the main ones. Most businesses will complete the test at the end of a process to help understand how to best manage a future employee.  For other businesses, performance on these tests are an excellent indicator of job performance so form a crucial part of the process. If it is the former it is best to complete the test at the end of the process because you have for all intents and purposes made your decision.  If it is the latter, save yourself some time and find a short, inexpensive test that you can put all candidates through with whom you are interested in meeting. One final point is that if you are working for a less known business or if you are recruiting a junior position it is worthwhile considering getting candidates to meet 1 or 2 peer level staff to give them a better feel for the culture. By having clear goals for each stage of the interview process, providing feedback throughout, allowing some time for people to properly evaluate the opportunity and running relevant tests at the right time you will: Give yourself the best chance of hiring the right person for the right position as well as minimise the chances someone will accept a job which they will resign from after 6 months.

Todd McFarlane Got Rejected 350 Times Before He Set Comic Book Sales RecordsHeres How He Stayed Motivated

Todd McFarlane Got Rejected 350 Times Before He Set Comic Book Sales Records…Heres How He Stayed Motivated If you ask any comic book fan boy who Todd McFarlane is, youll immediately notice a scowl of wonder and shame that one could ask such a question. But, for the uninitiated, Todd McFarlane was a Canadian comic book artist that was one of a handful of creatives credited for the great comics boom of the nineties.  McFarlane at the time, was known for his work on various comic books including Spider-Man, Spawn, and Hulk.  During his tenure at Marvel, his issue of Spider-Man #1 went on to sell 2.5 million copies.  To put that in perspective,  were lucky if a comic sells more than 90,000 copies these days. But it wasnt always peachy rainbows for McFarlane early on in his career.  Originally, he never planned to work in comics.  After high school, he got a full ride baseball scholarship to Eastern Washington University, and hoped to be a professional athlete, until he had a career ending ankle injury his freshman year. Once his Plan A fell to pieces, he turned to a hobby he carried on throughout his childhood, drawing superheroes.  He went on to send over 700 submissions of his work to various editors and Marvel and DC before he finally landed his first real job in the comics industry. Earlier this week, he posted on his Facebook wall a picture of some of the rejection letters he received, including some from Marvels then Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter.  He went on to explain how he stayed motivated through all of the rejections and how someone struggling to find their dream career could learn from his example. You can find his post below. I GOT REJECTED 350 TIMES! AND I HAVE THE LETTERS TO PROVE IT!!! Heres how I used them for motivationnot depression. I am posting 3 photos today. The first is a small sampling of some of the rejection letters I would receive from the various companies and people/editors. As you can see there is a range of different companies I sent them to, so nearly all of the corporations printing comics, I would send samples to. What I would do is draw some pages of different comic characters (about 6 to 18 in each batch). Then I would make about 20 copies of those pages and send them to twenty editors in the business (some of the editors could be working at the same company). In the second photo, you will see the little chart I made (in one of my college classes. I actually printed them, since there were no laptops or excel programs back then). I listed all the people I sent packages to and then kept track of any responses. In the third photo you will be able to read one of the rejections. This particular one came from the head of  Marvel  Comics, Jim Shooter. I was always flattered when anyone would take the time to look at what I had sent them and would then lick a stamp and send a return note. It is kind of funny that the Marvel envelopes and letterhead had  Spider-Man  on them, because in a few short years after getting some of these rejections I would actually be drawing the Spidey comic itself. The positive in getting these letters from editors was that generally they had constructive criticism notes in them (I will show you some of those from time to time). So I was able to take those suggestions and apply them to my next batch of samples. I repeated that method over and over again for about three years until I final caught my break. Sometimes they would even call me on the phone! That was awesome!!! As Ive said, it took about 700 sample submissions and about 350 rejection letters before someone finally said Enough already, Todd. Well give you a job! I think I wore them down with all my submissions. And the rest, as they say, is history. Been doing comics for nearly 30 years now (having done  Batman,  Spawn, Hulk, etc). So dont get discouraged if you dont get what you want out of life on your very first try. Sometimes it makes you stronger mentally to have to earn your way to whatever goal you set for yourself. TODD In the comments, let me know how you would take the lesson from Todds life and apply it in your own career.

How to Develop Thought Leadership - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Develop Thought Leadership - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Thought leadership in an industry is important to generate inbound leads and have clients come to you. Sales is thought of traditionally as a result of cold-calling or cold-emailing purely from hard work in developing relationships and pushing for the sale. But the smart marketer or salesperson understands that sales conversions greatly increase when the client is reaching out to you, instead of vice-versa. Its of course easier said than done how can you get customers to come to you as oppose to you going after the client? A blog of course is a good starting point, but there are so many blogs out on the web now that your voice can easily get lost in all of the noise. Guest posting can be difficult because authors are constantly pitched a guest article that they tend to ignore most requests. Thought leadership is going to take hard work, dedication, and an understanding of how to best use your time and energy. 1. The effective way to blog for your own site Stick to the following format and schedule: 2 blog posts a week posted on Monday and Thursday 1,500 word, detailed and specific articles To achieve this goal, youre going to need a virtual assistant and to block out 2 15-minute time slots per week. Twice a week, record yourself talk about a specific topic in your industry. If youre a real estate agent, then talk about how interest rates are currently affecting mortgage rates.  If youre an accountant, then talk about the most common opportunities that entrepreneurs miss as a write off. Ive found it easiest to record this as a conversation over Skype with a team member.  That way, the team member can ask questions during your call that will prompt even more good content.  Use ecamm to record a Skype call. Have your VA transcribe the call and send it to your trusted writer that can write in your voice. Ive found writers in Elance and Indeed. Once the post is finished, the VA can schedule it for your blog. 2. The low hanging fruit Its important to go to where your target market hangs out. Ive tested participating in FB, LinkedIn, and Squidoo communities, but the most effective so far has been Quora. Quora is a popular QA site that ranks very well on search engines. To to do well in Quora, do the following: Find 5 topics for your VA to follow that are relevant to your industry If youre in the health and fitness industry, then follow the Fitness topic on Quora Reserve a 30-minute time slot each week where your VA will feed your questions and you answer them have your VA record with ecamm VA transcribes the audio and send to your writer Writer cleans up the answer and the VA posts to Quora as you You can easily answer 5 questions per week using this method. 3. Guest blogging Top blogs will only accept content from reputable sources, so its important that you establish #1 from above so that a guest author can read your content.  Once you have a credible base, its time to find relevant blogs to guest blog for. The easiest place to start is to search for the top blogs in your industry.  A simple Google search for top X blogs will result in lots of results for blogs. Have your VA go through these blogs and document which accept guest posts and what are their rules and conditions. Once you know which blogs accept guest posts, have your VA go through your FB and LinkedIn to see if youre connected to any of these blogs an introduction is a lot better than a cold email. Make a priority out of the blogs that you can get an introduction to. If you cant get an introduction to a blog, then your best bet is to build a relationship through Twitter and guest commenting for the author.  If you have good feedback on Twitter and through commenting on their content, then there is a good chance you can build a relationship and get a guest post submitted. Author: Jun Loayza is the President of  Lion Step Media. In his entrepreneurial experience, Jun has sold 2 internet companies and lead social media technology campaigns for Sephora, Whole Foods Market, Levis, LG, and Activision.

How to Handle and Negotiate A Counter-offer

How to Handle and Negotiate A Counter-offer Photo Credit- Lifed.comA very important part of salary negotiation is the counter-offer, a tool which can be leveraged by both the employer and the candidate to come to an acceptable amount of compensation which is neither greater than the industry standards nor lower what the candidate actually deserves.While quitting a job is not always the easiest decision to make some employers tend to make it even more difficult by throwing in a counter-offer of more salary. While counter-offers in such a situation can be a blessing, it also puts the candidate in an uncomfortable situation.evalSince you have already made up your mind about leaving the place and let it known to your manager, the prospect of staying on if you go on to accept the offer does put you in a sticky position. If you receive the same counter-offer from a potential employer it means that your initial salary ambitions were too high and now the ball is in your court to decide whether you want to keep the offer or look out fo r a better one somewhere else.Handling counter-offers from your current employerevalYou are attempting to break the shackles of your current employer and just when everything felt like going as per the plans your boss throws in a surprise with a counter-offer promising you a 25 percent hike in the current salary. Such an offer can be an unnerving for those who are genuinely seeking job opportunities outside.You might be a digital marketing expert stuck with an underpaying job looking to switch to a better company and a higher role such as that of VP online marketing or CMO. There are even professionals who get tired of their daily routine and want to shift their career to a different field altogether. Whatever might be your reason, the onus lies on you to remind yourself of the reasons owing to which you want to leave the company and also see through the real motives behind the counter-offer.While to some it might seem as flattering having your current employer going all the way to hold you back but taking the counter-offer when you are resigning is like tying a knot to hold together a broken string. You have already damaged the relationship and it’s never going to be the same again. Your boss knows that you have been only inches from leaving and if another better offer comes up in the future you might still take it.Therefore the best thing would be to enter into a delicate dialogue with your current employer and leave the company without burning the bridges. This is going to be a test of your interpersonal skills as a little off the mark remark from your side can make the proposition look like a threat, where you are using the other job offer as a negotiating tool.NegotiationsStart the conversation with the manager by letting him know that another company is actively pursuing you and you have also found the position worth your considerations for some reasons. While there is still time before you accept the offer, there are very less reasons to not to do so. Let the boss know about the things that attract you to the new job offer and ask for his advice and what he would have done had he been in your place.Don’t be swayedIf you have already made up your mind about leaving the job, come-what-may, than do not let any counter-offer by your employer come in the way of doing so. Research has shown that most common reason for job change is professional growth and not a salary increment. Thus, instead of letting your manager to wiggle you out with a negotiation let him know that after much thought and deliberation you have come to the decision of moving on.evalNegotiating a counter-offer is a very personal and subjective process, varying from employee to employee. Every organization puts different value on different employees.Before accepting any such counter-offer the employee must be sure that the counter-offer is a genuine effort on the part of the company to keep him engaged with its business and not a pretext for keeping him on board lo ng enough to find his replacement.

Happiness at work on a military base - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Happiness at work on a military base - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I just got this hilarious email from Dean Langsam: Hi. Im Dean, a casual follower. I work at a military base. The base has two entrances, one to the north and one to the south. The entrances have guards regular soldiers who have other jobs but once every few month they have this guard duty for a week. Let me tell you it is a CRAPPY duty, but it must be done. Most soldiers hate it and show it, telling you good day with out really meaning it. But today, I showed my credentials to the soldier, and he replied Good day sir, thank you for choosing the northern entrance.? It was funny and made my day nicer, his day nicer and Im sure it had a positive effect on many people. It was wonderful. That is just awesome :) Have you ever had a similar interaction with someone who went out of their way to create a little happiness in their job? Id love to hear your story. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Resume Writing For Beginning Graphic Designers

Resume Writing For Beginning Graphic DesignersIf you are seeking to become a graphic designer, the first thing you should be aware of is that resume writing for beginning graphic designers can vary greatly. Therefore, it is important to know the basic elements that compose a good resume, so that you can take the correct steps to create one yourself.The resume needs to be based on the candidate's previous work experience and skills. A resume that does not contain this information will most likely appear empty and therefore ineffective when you finally get your interview.The following elements are important when it comes to a resume needs to be well designed. They are: your qualifications; your skills and knowledge; your educational background; and your current employment. Once you have established these, you should also ensure that you have listed each of these things in a section labeled Skills and Education.A good resume does not need to contain all of the information that is requir ed to provide an excellent professional background and education. The following elements are needed: employment, education, and industry experience. It is also a good idea to add the fact that you are self-motivated and determined. These elements should go along with your professional skills.One last thing that is very important to keep in mind when writing a resume is to make sure that you always focus on the applicant's past accomplishments. By doing this, you will be sending a strong message to your potential employer that you have experience and expertise in what you are applying for.By doing this, your resume is able to communicate to the recruiter that you are qualified for the position. You are also able to let them know that you are a self-motivated and hard working individual.A resume is only as good as the person who writes it. It is important to select a professional writer and have them write the resume properly so that it conveys all of the important information.By maki ng sure that the resume is professionally written, you are also helping yourself stand out from the rest of the applicants. In addition, by creating a resume that will give your potential employer the impression that you are the best choice for the job, you are likely to find that you will land that dream job.