By this time hopefully you have gathered a number of openings that you’d like to apply to and put them into an Excel sheet as shown in Part 1. Here comes the next step to acing the online application round, where most applicants, and I failed. In this post, I’ll try to break it down in two main stages and give you a comprehensive view of what are the factors involved in each stage.
1. Do your homework
Now the one major mistake I see in most people is unrealistic understanding of their pool of skills and experiences and of the position they are going for. By being unrealistic I mean unable to step out of your mind, your past experiences (be it accomplishments or setbacks) to objectively assess the match between your experience and portfolio.
What does it truly mean to be a ‘Communications Trainee’? What makes it different from marketing skills? Titles are not all. What are the required skills for the industry of the company you’re applying to? Flexibility and stress-resistant in a fast-paced startup environment. Excellent communication skills in a service sector. To name but a few.
So hold your horses, don’t click that ‘submit application’ button yet but make a coffee, sit down and get ready to do some research. Don’t know where to start? Here’s a list for you:
The role: Read the job description and requirement thoroughly and try to highlight the key points that are essential to the company.
The industry: Visit company website, try to understand what’s their product and who’re their customers. Is it B2B or B2C? Is it a local market or an international market? Do a basic Google search to understand the characteristics of that industry in the specific country the company is operating in.
The company: Here comes the secret weapon I have been using to gain a deeper understanding of the company - a LinkedIn dive-in + Google news. As a professional network, LinkedIn provides you with more relevant information about a company such as size of the company and employee’s profile. If their LinkedIn is well updated, this should give you more details into the background of the founders and their employees, their currents interests etc. This will be key information for you to assess if the company is suitable for you and find out what are they looking for in interns.
People with previous role: One of the reasons why finding an internship is difficult is because of the blind competition - you don’t know who your competitors are and what is the role model for the position. As you research the hiring company on LinkedIn, you’ll find ‘People working at ABC’ underneath it and have a look at the profiles of relevant titles. For example, if I’m applying to a Marketing Communications Intern position at Today Vy learns, I would try and find out people who previously worked at Today Vy learns as a Communications Intern or at least Marketing Manager. By doing this, you’ll have an idea of what the ideal candidate looks like and what kind of skillsets / experiences the employer is looking for.
Tip: Better yet, sometimes I even connect with the former interns with a friendly note to ask them more details about the position, the company and the application process. Don’t be afraid of reaching out to people, there’s no harm in doing it. If you get the offer that means you’ll already know someone who used to work at the new company, if you don’t, so what, people are not going to mark you as ‘failed applicant’ and remember you forever.
2. Prepare your application
Now that you have gain sufficient understanding about the company, their industry and the job description, it’s time to brainstorm and think of ways you can give the employer what they want. This stage will be a bit broad and vague even because how you write your resume, cover letter depends on the company, the industry, the role and even the country you’re applying to. However, I'll try to mention the steps that I feel usually people will skip when it comes to internship hunting.
List all of your experiences, skills and activities in one blank document.
Highlight key skills listed in the job requirement (you will use them as reference as you draft your resume).
Use the STAR technique to showcase your skills corresponding to each requirement. STAR stands for Situation - Task - Action - Result and I learnt this technique at University of Derby Careers Hub. Basically you are very detailed and specific about your skills and how it helped achieve results. Have a look at action verbs for job application.
As you do this, you’ll learn that there are certain requirements that you haven’t met yet, but my philosophy is that no one is perfect and that’s alright as long as we are capable of learning. For each unfulfilled requirement, be creative and think of how you can compensate for that. This is where your unique strength comes in – be it your native language, your experience in hospitality as a waiter/ cashier etc or your confidence in front of the camera.
Tip: Approach it with a 'can-do' mindset instead of a 'but' mindset. If it’s a matter of working period, far location etc… but you really think that the job is for you, go ahead and apply with a note saying that 'I am aware of ... and I really hope we can figure something out.’
Once you have finished your resume, don’t hurry to submit now but leave it and come back later with a refreshed perspective. Open the job description and your CV, imagine if you’re the recruiter for this role, would you be interested in the CV in front of you? If you have done research and be honest enough, you’ll know the answer.
After you re-edit your application / resume, have someone proofread it for you. They’ll be able to spot grammar or spelling mistakes. Trust me if you look at one word for too long it doesn’t make any sense to you anymore.
Tip: Be thoughtful about who you seek advice/ feedback from for your application as it can be wildly different between industries / companies / countries. Always send them the job description for reference as well.
Now’s the time you anxiously wait for the result while continue looking for open positions across various websites. Compulsively check your email inbox every second your pick up your phone and live with the fear of what if they all reject me - no, no, that's me. Please don't do that. Read about how to cope with rejection during stressful job seeking period here soon.
If you fail, learn from it, continue seeking new openings and apply again. The application round is usually the most difficult application simply because you can only rely on a resume / CV to enchant the recruiters.
If you make it through the online application – congratulations! Give yourself a pat on the back and buckle up for the next round – Interview.
Coming up next: Part 3 – How to Prepare for the Interview Round.
