Level up your job applications in 2021

It's 2021. It's time to level up your job applications. We're taking it right back to basics and providing you with 10 practical tools and tips to ensure you're standing out from the crowd.

Mastering the Job Hunt

To kick things off take a look at our free video course, Seeker Series: Mastering the Job Hunt which covers a huge range of topics including getting your CV top-notch, and finding work which inspires you.

Personal Branding and Networking

There are more people than ever applying for jobs. So how can you open up doors for yourself and stand out from the crowd? Join us for a free workshop on Thursday 7th January to learn all things personal branding and networking in 2021. This is about being authentic, seeing yourself as more than just an employee, and being proactive in making things happen for yourself. Here's to levelling up in 2021.

Skills Audit

If you’re looking to make a career change the chances are you won’t have spent a lot of time building up skills and experience in your new area. More often than not, we don’t recognise the skills we already have. We're modest creatures. There are ways to get to grips with, and communicate, the skills you already have in ways that will serve your next step. Level up tip 3 will help you to audit your skills and present them to an employer.

CV Writing

Writing a CV is one of those life skills very few of us learned with any sort of real guidance. A template here, an article there, we pick up advice and muddle along. The problem is that much of the CV advice out there is outdated in the modern world of work.

We're passionate about helping great people stand out to great organisations, which is why we've broken down the steps to writing an amazing CV which can help you truly stand out amongst your peers.

If you'd like to take your CV writing to the next level, check out our self-paced online course.

Cover Letters

Imagine there are two candidates. The same qualifications. The same experiences. One put time and effort into their cover letter. The other didn’t. Guess who got the interview?

You've likely spent a long time pouring over the words on your CV. But what about its good friend, the cover letter? You’re truly doing yourself a disservice by creating a super generic or formulaic cover note. You have an opportunity to craft a narrative that aligns you not only with the position you’re applying to but also the company you’re applying to.

Read our expert article on creating the perfect cover letter.

Job Application Strategy

With a highly competitive job market, tailoring your CV and application is crucial to stand out from the crowd. Before you dive straight into your application, spend a little time pulling together key information and thinking about how you can best set yourself up to secure an interview. Our free job application strategy worksheet will help you get started.

Standing Out from the Crowd

Finding work that really matters to you, in a company that you value and where you are valued back, isn't easy. Read our top advice to help you learn different ways to stand out.

Set Up Alerts

If you've found an organisation you really want to work for, set up alerts to hear when they've got a role open. That way you'll get notified straight away, and won't have to trawl through their website every few weeks. This can be a real timesaver for the future!

Preparing for an Interview

3 top tips:

• Prepare some examples for classic questions like 'what are your weaknesses?' and 'tell me about a time when you overcame a challenge'.
• Write down questions you'd like to ask them. After all, you need to know if it's a good fit for you too.
• Write down your career highlights so far, and what skills you used throughout them.

You can use our Job Interview Cliff Notes on Escape to help organise your thoughts and research.