Career Guide Kapitel 3 - TUM Community

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Career Advice

Present Your Skills

Making a Great First Impression in Your Application

24. May 2023 |

Reading time Min.

So, you’ve figured out what you want to achieve in your career and what skills set you apart from the crowd. You also know which employers might interest you, what types of jobs could suit you best and have drawn up a plan to help you get started on your job search.

Now, let’s shift our focus to the next stage: introducing yourself to a potential employer and impressing their HR Manager with your expertise and competencies. This traditionally involves writing an application. Hold on! Don’t just start writing right away. First, we need to go over a few of the fundamentals.

Picture: sora-shimazaki-pexels.com

Discover the following topics in this article:

The application process – 6 stages that await you
How to read a job ad
Analyzing the job ad
What goes into your application portfolio?
The perfect CV – 3 things to consider
Your CV – Three sample CVs
How a recruiter reads your CV
Gaps and changes in your CV
Disability or chronic illness – how to handle that in an application
Starting work with a disability – Interviews with two alumni
Your cover letter – Why it is so important
Errors in your cover letter
What to keep in mind when applying by email
Unsolicited application
Why PhD graduates are in such demand
CV´s for PhDs and starting a job after my PhD

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

Make sure you know what the classic application process looks like. The first step is to analyze a job advertisement in detail. You need to figure out what skills a suitable candidate must have to perform the duties stated in the ad. You can distinguish between must-haves, which are essential for the job, and couldhaves, which are also very much appreciated but not absolutely necessary.