{"id":26052,"date":"2014-10-29T03:00:06","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T10:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/2014\/10\/5-tips-for-a-competitive-job-application\/"},"modified":"2014-10-29T03:00:06","modified_gmt":"2014-10-29T10:00:06","slug":"5-tips-for-a-competitive-job-application","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/5-tips-for-a-competitive-job-application\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips for a Competitive Job Application"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"job<\/a>Are you\u00a0applying for a job<\/a>, internship, or teaching assistant (TA) position? We\u2019ve got five easy job application and interview tips that you can use when\u00a0applying to just about anything<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tuck these tips under your belt, and you\u2019ll be strutting your way into a new job<\/a>\u2014not just an interview\u2014before you can say,\u00a0hired<\/i>!<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Professionalism in all things virtual<\/h4>\n

Your\u00a0virtual interactions<\/a>\u2014and that largely means emails when applying for an internship, TA position, or similar job\u2014need to be strong reflections of your professionalism and support your candidacy for a position. Contemporary communication\u00a0tends to be casual, and it\u2019s easy to let that slip into your emails.<\/p>\n

For starters, think of your email greeting, and let the rest of your correspondence follow in a similar tone. Avoid opening an email to a hiring manager with anything as casual as \u201cHey,\u201d or even \u201cHi.\u201d You don\u2019t have be overly formal or always use \u201cDear,\u201d but a nice \u201cHello\u201d could be a good middle ground. How you address hiring managers can impact their initial impressions of you and can even influence the way you act around them in the future \u2026 say, if you land an interview.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Research the position before applying<\/h4>\n

As a job candidate, it\u2019s common to fall back on the strategy of applying to several positions at once just for the sake of increasing your chances at securing a position\u2014not necessarily thinking about how suited you are for the job. There are plenty of flaws in this logic, but let\u2019s just look at a couple<\/p>\n

While applying all over the place and putting your metaphorical eggs in multiple baskets\u00a0can<\/i>\u00a0get you considered as a candidate for several jobs at once, the quantity-over-quality approach is often counterproductive. For one reason, a semi-customized job application is more likely to get thrown out of a review pile than a carefully tailored one.<\/p>\n

You may hear it constantly, but it\u2019s true: take the time to fully understand a position before you apply to it. A well-customized application is more likely to catch a hiring manager\u2019s eye, and acquiring a comprehensive understanding of an internship, TA, or job position is less likely to waste everyone\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

Ask yourself the following questions before taking the time to fill out that job application and tailor that resume and cover letter:<\/p>\n