Subject: Applying for a job - your tips

I always like to make sure I personalise my applications too, but I'd advise to be careful of lots of copying and pasting then changing the odd word here and there in order to tailor an application to a specific recruiter -  a tempting thing to do if you're sending off piles of the things, but can lead to sloppiness as well as your method appearing very transparent.

I'd like to second the point about enthusiasm, and add (somewhat obviously) that knowing as much as possible about the organisation/role is vital. I encountered no small amount of embarassment having not done enough research for one particular interview some time ago - something I'm not keen to repeat.

I have it on good authority also that companies with vacancies simply aren't taking them to recruitment agencies and generally are perhaps not advertising them as widely and as well as they would have done in the past (due to lack of funds).  This means it may well be worth actually making yourself presentable and dropping your CV into organisations that you would be interested in working for.  Just ask them to bear you in mind if they ever have any opportunities.  They then get to see you, are more likely to remember you and more importantly - know that you are pro-active and enthusiastic.  I have also heard people say they recieve so many thousands of e-mailed CVs, they actually take more notice of one in old styly - paper format!!

There is a difference between looking for a job to progress your career and looking for a job because you have to.. The advice I have is the same in both scenarios. In the latter employers will pick up on that sense of desparation.  Ask yourself "what really motivates me and what skills do I have that play best to my strengths?". In addition to applying for jobs that meet this criteria, identify employers whose cause/organisational culture motivates you, and apply to them directly- the best jobs are those that are not advertised!

My tip would be to remember that a lot of your skills, knowledge and experience is likely to be transferable to other work contexts so spend a lot of time thinking about the person specification for the job you are applying for and look for links that might not have been obvious at first glance.  Remember that experience gained in a voluntary capacity can just as important and relevant as experience gained in paid employment. 

If you have unfortunately lost your job, start looking for a job immediately afterwards (or if possible before you leave).  It is easy to want "to have a break" after what may have been a very stressful experience but it is much better to start applying for other jobs as soon as possible after leaving your last one.    

As a friend of mine said whose post was made redundant "I made looking for a job my new job and it paid off, I found a new job relatively quickly" 

Interesting comments in this article in Professional Fundraising about candidates for senior fundraising jobs who don't mention the donors or recipients of funds in their applications or interviews. Recruiters from NSPCC were shocked.

Do people really just talk about themselves at interview? Why don't they realise that recruiters are looking for some recognition that the candidates have thought about what their organisation does and thinks is important? This stuff really isn't rocket science!

Although I'm still looking for a job, I've found that the applications I've done that have led to the best response are those that are really concise but very closely mirror the terms used in the person specification and using bullet points/ short paragraphs to provide one example of each of the criteria the organisation is looking at.  

Not only has this at least helped me to be invited for interview, it's also something that a friend of mine highlighted when she had over 100 forms to look through - those where it was quick and easy  to pick out the salient points were automatically favourable in what was a very long process!  Sounds obvious but it's easy to want to cram in every example and piece of experience.