Recently I have assisted some applicants review their applications to universities or employers overseas and I find many of them grossly incomplete and nonchalantly prepared. From a mile away, you can easily sift those who read the job description or admission requirements from those who did not. The first impression whoever is reviewing your application gets matters a lot and when your first page is riddled with errors, the reviewer loses interest early without having read most of your application. I will give some examples of some errors I encounter frequently, hopefully this short article will help some people.

1. Use of Block letters: Unless stated, please don’t use block letters to fill your forms, especially for any free text typing such as cover letters or personal statements. Block letters make your text appear as if you’re shouting. Try reading a 500-word essay printed in block letters and you wonder if the person is screaming at you. It also appears very crowded and difficult to read. Consider the following paragraphs:

‘I HEARD ABOUT THIS JOB THROUGH AN EMAIL FROM MY CURRENT EMPLOYERS. AFTER GOING THROUGH THE PERSON SPECIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR THE JOB, I AM CONFIDENT THAT I AM A PERFECT FIT FOR THE ROLE. MOST OF MY PROFESSIONAL CAREER HAS INVOLVED TEAMWORK, HENCE I AM WELL VERSED IN HOW TO WORK EXCELLENTLY WITHIN A TEAM. I AM GOAL-DRIVEN, AMBITIOUS AND HARDWORKING’.

‘I heard about this job through an email from my current employers. After going through the person specifications and requirements for the job, I am confident that I am a perfect for the role. Most of my professional career has involved teamwork, hence I am well versed in how to work excellently within a team. I am goal-driven, ambitious and hardworking’.

You can easily see how noisy and loud the first paragraph is, accentuated by making the characters bold (another error some people make). Paragraph 2 on the other hand appears calmer and is easier to read. Imagine paragraph 1 for the rest of 2 pages. Some forms may specify you fill the bio-data page in block letters, especially in hand-filled forms. This is to enable legibility. Watch out for this. Nobody will ever ask you to fill a personal statement in capital letters.

2. Use of abbreviations: When filling your form don’t assume your future employers can read your mind. I have seen some applications with abbreviations like ‘unn’, ‘unec’, ‘esut’ or ‘futo’ used for ‘Name of Institution’ under educational qualifications, for an international application! Imagine a university professor somewhere in London or Toronto going through applications from all over the world and seeing someone’s bachelor’s degree as being obtained from ‘unn’ (in small letters for that matter!). This is a post with competitors from Brazil, India, China etc. Even for local applications (within Nigeria), it is still unacceptable to write ‘unn’ as your undergraduate institution. Please avoid abbreviations no matter how common you think they are. Try to write all your institutions, workplaces or addresses in full.

3. Incomplete applications: Little things matter. Many applications are just grossly incomplete. For instance, you are asked for your residential address and you write ‘Number 14 Josephine close, Awka’, and that’s it. The professor reading your application probably thinks Africa is one country and may have never heard of Nigeria, talk more of Anambra state, or Awka. As a rule of thumb, when making an international application, make sure you write your address complete to your country wherever an address is required. Incomplete phone numbers is another common error. Be sure to put your country dialing code whenever your phone number is required so that your future employers don’t have to go on google to start search for it themselves.

4. Rushed applications: It’s easy to know applications prepared in a hurry or ones in which the applicant didn’t bother to read the details before applying. Many applicants don’t make out the time to study the job advertisement or admission prospectus carefully. It is important to know what exactly is being asked of in the person specification for the job before writing your personal statement or cover letter. The easiest way to know who hasn’t read this is someone who duplicates his CV in his cover letter. ‘I attended St Michael Grammar school then proceeded to Imo State University’. Exactly as you have written in the body of your application. It helps to read the mission and goals of the company and fit it into your personal statement stating why you are the best fit for them. Also go through your application before submitting it to correct inadvertent errors like date overlaps.

The take home messages are:

• If you really want that job or admission, then it is worthwhile to invest quality time in writing your application
• Read the details of what is expected of you or the role before filling your application
• Write everything in full; your name, your addresses, your telephone numbers, your institutions and workplaces etc.
• Do not use block letters unless asked to.
• Remember that you are just one person out of a thousand all over the world applying for that post. Fill your form with some seriousness.
• Get someone to review your application before submitting.
• The person reviewing your form probably has never heard of Nigeria. Bear this in mind always.

Always remember that a well-written application may be the difference between your current job (or joblessness) and your dream job. Why not give it your best shot?

Alpha Chiemezie Madu

February 07, 2022