Getting started
The key to improving your chances of getting any
job is knowing that you are applying for the right post. This might
sound simplistic, but being sure that you are applying to the
correct speciality involves being aware of your skills and personal
attributes, being clear about what you are looking for in a future
career and having evidence of information or experience you have
gathered in relation to that career. Taken as a whole, this
provides you with a chance to compare your skills with those needed
for success in the role.
Preparing for recruitment and selection
If you are clear that you have a good fit,
then begin preparing for the recruitment and selection process by
learning as much about the specialty as possible and considering
what parts of your experience are most relevant.
For example, if you learn that empathy and sensitivity is essential
for your desired specialty, then think about times from your
previous experience when you have displayed these attributes.
Consider how the evidence demonstrates these strengths. What
specifically did you do to show empathy and sensitivity and how did
you know it was effective?
You might find it helpful to write these examples down so that you
can use them for application forms, when preparing your CV or
portfolio, or at interviews.
Continue to develop your understanding of the specialty and reflect
on your experiences; when noting these down for future use, you may
find it useful to construct the examples using a
STAR format:
S ituation: What was the
overall situation?
T ask: What was your task
within the situation?
A ction: What action did you
take which illustrates the skill or competency?
R esult: What was result and
how do you know your action was satisfactory?
Focus on Task and Action, rather than spending
a long time setting the scene. Report a (successful) outcome
in just one or two sentences.