Demonstrate You Fit the Job Criteria

Sample Job Description

The Maximal Group Graduate Openings for Planning Researchers

We are specialist advisers to corporate owners and high net worth individuals. We have built up a reputation for working with companies and individuals, to enhance their business and personal finances. This has been achieved through the development of highly specialised products and services, designed specifically for those markets.

We offer outstanding opportunities for top quality graduates. Starting as a Planning Researcher, you will be trained and qualified to advance to the role of Planning Associate and then the prestigious role of Corporate Consultant. You will have

• Achieved (or be predicted) a 2:1 or above  in any degree discipline
• Solid communication skills
• Well-developed IT skills
• The ability to manage your workload and responsibilities, either on a solo or teamwork basis
• A genuine interest in business, finance and people

Starting salaries will be in the range £18k-£22k, with share options and unrivalled training and career advancement opportunities. 

My Evidence

• 2:1
  • Yes
• Communication skills
  • Written: Reports during work experience at Wests; Emphasise variety within studies (essays, dissertations, reports, etc); College Debating Society publicity material
  • Oral: GCSE private tutoring; Presentation of final-year project; College Debating Society
• IT skills
  • MS Office (at uni and for jobs) Word, Excel, PowerPoint
  • Internet – basic html writing webpage for Debating Soc
• Managing workload & responsibilities
  • Solo: Study at Oxford! Successful final-year project
  • Self-starter: Organising useful work experience & tutoring service
  • Team: Debating Society committee; well-attended debates; outside speakers; promotion of society
• Interest in business/finance/people
  • Read FT & The Economist; Work experience (Wests and Tesco); Tutoring & debating

You should then make sure you use these examples when presenting yourself in your CV and cover letter – or application form – and at interview. At interview, do not be afraid to repeat the examples you used in your written application if you have limited experience. Your interviewers will have read large numbers of applications, and will not have memorised all the points in yours!

Structuring responses: the STAR technique

In cover letters, application forms and interviews, you may find the STAR approach (Situation, Task, Action, Result) helps you to frame a clear structure when providing an example experience.

• Describe a situation
• Explain the task you had to do
• Set out – clearly, specifically, and with detail – the actions you took
• And finally, describe the result and what you learned

The ‘Action’ should account for about 70 per cent of your answer, with the other parts taking up roughly 10 per cent each.

Action verbs

In written applications, you should convey your relevant skills and experience with impact by using action verbs. These can help make an application stand out, particularly if you start bullet-points with them. Here are some examples:

Accomplished • Achieved • Administered • Advised • Advocated • Analysed • Assembled • Authorised • Awarded • Budgeted • Captained • Chaired • Coached • Completed • Conducted • Co-ordinated • Counselled • Created • Decided • Delivered • Demonstrated • Designed • Determined • Developed • Devised • Directed • Discovered • Earned • Edited • Employed • Enabled • Encouraged • Engineered • Enjoyed • Ensured •  Established • Evaluated • Examined • Expanded • Explained • Facilitated • Founded • Gained • Generated • Handled • Identified • Implemented • Improved • Increased • Initiated • Instituted • Instructed • Interviewed • Invented • Launched • Led • Managed • Marketed • Maximised • Mediated • Negotiated • Obtained • Operated • Organised • Oversaw • Performed • Planned • Prepared • Presented • Prioritised • Produced • Promoted • Raised • Ran • Recognised  • Recommended • Reconciled • Recruited • Represented • Responsible • Saved • Set up • Simplified • Solved • Supervised • Targeted • Transformed

If you feel you lack experience, and don’t have time before an application to gain more, don’t panic! You can always reference the knowledge and skills developed during your course at Oxford.

For example, you could:

• Mention particularly relevant subjects/modules; extended essay/dissertation/thesis; field work and other research projects.
• Highlight the tutorial system: ability to see both sides of an argument; thinking on your feet; explaining your views to others; presenting information; and coping with pressure.
• Remember skills gained from personal study: time management; research skills; analytical and critical thinking; identifying key points; summarising/synthesising information; structuring arguments.