{"id":970,"date":"2018-01-24T11:09:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-24T11:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/?p=970"},"modified":"2025-10-22T15:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T14:57:07","slug":"research-for-your-personal-statement-or-cover-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/2018\/01\/24\/research-for-your-personal-statement-or-cover-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"Research for your personal statement or cover letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Writing a personal statement for further study or a cover letter for your dream job can be more difficult than first anticipated but it doesn\u2019t have to be! The key is RESEARCH and I\u2019m going to show you exactly how to do it here\u2026<\/p>\n

Of course employers or admissions tutors want to know that you have the right skills or experiences to thrive in the role, but they also want to know that you understand what the opportunity will entail, that you are enthusiastic about what the organisation does and that you\u2019re actually passionate about working or studying with them!<\/p>\n

Today I am going to concentrate on 2 out of the 3 points you need to cover for most personal statements and cover letters:<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why are you applying for this role?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Why are you applying to this organisation?<\/p>\n

For today, I\u2019ll leave out \u2018Why you? \u2013 What skills, abilities or experiences do you have to offer that match the job specification\u2019 as in my experience students struggle more with the above points.<\/p>\n

Why are you applying for this role? READ: Why are you interested in this role\/further study programme?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Have you stopped to consider what it would really be like to be in this role? This is worthwhile contemplating even if it wasn\u2019t going to help with your application; you want to be happy in your career or field of study so it\u2019s an important point to consider.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A first step is to ensure you know the job description or admission requirements inside and out. What sort of tasks will you be expected to carry out? Is there a lot of team or independent work? Is this something you enjoy?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Think about how this role would differ from a similar role in another organisation. Look at the organisation\u2019s website or utilise careers fairs and alumni where you can talk to people doing the job already!<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Read more generally about what this kind of role would be like. Make use of websites like Prospects and TargetJobs as well as our very own careers website.<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You could also ring or email the contact listed regarding informal enquiries. Not many candidates do this and it can be a good way to get more information as well as leave a positive impression of yourself before the recruiters even read your application!<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Remember, many graduate schemes include rotations in lots of different areas so yes\u2026 you will need to research all of them!<\/p>\n

Why are you applying to this organisation? READ: Why do you want to work for us? Or why do you want to study with us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It can be hard to articulate why you want to join a certain company or university and too many candidates rest on vague statements like \u2018top University\u2019 or \u2018world-renowned company\u2019 without adding anything meaningful to them, or showing that they\u2019ve done any research at all!<\/p>\n

Here are some of the sorts of things you could explore\u2026<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What are their values and do they reflect your own? What about the organisation\u2019s \u2018office culture\u2019? Remember you can utilise careers fairs and alumni for this reason too!<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What sort of products or services do they offer and how does this differ to their competitors? Are there any recent business decisions that you can discuss and reflect on?<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Try to work out how this organisation is unique compared to the rest of the sector<\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you\u2019re applying to another university for further study you can look into flagship research projects, academic interests of potential supervisors and make sure you understand what the programme will entail. A top tip is to look into the kinds of modules you\u2019d be offered, especially if you\u2019re applying for a taught programme, and make sure your interests align with some of those areas in your statement.<\/p>\n

Employers and further study institutions not only want to know that you\u2019re qualified for the opportunity but also, that you\u2019ll be happy in the position so that is where you\u2019re understanding of the role and organisation really comes in handy.<\/p>\n

Remember to check out our Application, CV and cover letter guid<\/a>e and that you can always book an appointment<\/a> to speak to an adviser directly about your application!<\/p>\n

Good luck!<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Writing a personal statement for further study or a cover letter for your dream job can be more difficult than first anticipated but it doesn\u2019t have to be! The key is RESEARCH and I\u2019m going to show you exactly...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1070,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[748],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1070"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}