{"id":47,"date":"2015-12-04T10:55:45","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T10:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/?p=47"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:26:42","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:26:42","slug":"so-many-skills-so-little-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/2015\/12\/04\/so-many-skills-so-little-evidence\/","title":{"rendered":"So many skills, so little evidence…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Employer,<\/em><\/p>\n

I am applying for the position advertised on your website.<\/em><\/p>\n

I think that I would be a suitable candidate for this position due to my positive attitude and commitment to the workplace. I am a self-motivated and driven individual who works well under pressure. I have great customer service skills alongside the ability to present in front of large crowds. I am diligent and have great attention to detail and I am 100% a team player. I also work well as an individual. I am perceptive and approachable whilst being assertive and confident and I am sure that all of my skills will make me a successful candidate. <\/em><\/p>\n

Wow. You have all the skills<\/a>. So many skills, so little evidence.<\/p>\n

If I told you I was a backing dancer for Beyonce would you believe me? You would probably ask me to prove it. I\u2019m asking you to do the same. When you tell a recruiter that you are perceptive and approachable they aren\u2019t always going to take it on face value \u2013 after all, we can all find lists of positive adjectives that make us sound wonderful. An employer wants proof.<\/p>\n

You may have been lucky enough to have an English teacher who was so cool and \u2018down-with-the-kids\u2019 that they told you to PEE all over the page. (Point, Example, Explain). Well, they weren\u2019t wrong.<\/p>\n

Make your Point: \u201cI am a perceptive and approachable member of a team.\u201d
\nGive an Example: \u201cWhen working as a youth leader I regularly had to manage conflict between attendees. I was able to recognise tensions within the group and address them before they escalated which meant that students felt comfortable approaching me with problems.\u2019
\nExplain: \u201cThis will support me in my role as (X) as I will be able to quickly understand team dynamics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your application<\/a> will have more impact if you pick three skills and provide examples than if you reel off a long list of adjectives with no substance.<\/p>\n

Your application will have even more impact if those skills that you choose are tailored to the job you are applying for.<\/p>\n

Remember \u2013 we can check your application<\/a> for you too!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Employer, I am applying for the position advertised on your website. I think that I would be a suitable candidate for this position due to my positive attitude and commitment to the workplace. I am a self-motivated and driven individual who works well under pressure. I have great customer service skills alongside the ability […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[45,8,42,4,44,43],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-application-and-selection","tag-career-development-service","tag-careers-ad","tag-graduate-jobs","tag-internships","tag-univeristy-of-leicester"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/48"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/careerdevelopmentservice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}