Application Advice

Employers use a variety of methods to shortlist and select placement students. The most common are CVs, cover letters, application forms, online tests, video interviews, in-person interviews and assessment centres. Below are some helpful resources for each area and remember you can use the faculty placements team as well as the careers service to advise on your applications and how to prepare . Using the advice and support available will save you time and improve your chances of success.

Your CV

Below are some useful articles on cv writing as well as some examples to give a bit of inspiration. Try and stick to the following guidelines when creating your placement CV:

Employers will scan CVs for key words, often using specialist software to do this, so try and use common key words throughout your CV such as those suggested in this document
Presentation matters, so take time to ensure that the alignment, structure and style of the CV gives a good impression.
Highlight the transferable skills from any group projects, part time work, volunteering etc
Showcase the skills you have developed on your degree as much as the academic learning
It's OK for a CV to be one page if you don't have much content right now and there are things you can do to add content such as volunteering, student union activity, online learning, virtual internships, student rep / ambassador roles etc

Use the advice and examples below to help with your CV and then ask for feedback.

RateMyPlacement advice on creating a good placement CV and template
Advice on writing a Scientific CV by SRG
Bioscience example student CV
Presentation about how to tailor your CV to a specific role
Careers Service video about using MySkills to highlight skills for your CV
Careers Service advice on CV writing
Careerset is a tool to give feedback on the content of your CV and gives a score on its effectiveness. It scans your CV for keywords like many employers systems do so is very useful.

Cover Letter

Some employers ask you to write a cover letter to send with your CV. Each letter you write is unique and needs to be 'tailored' to the specific role and organisation, but it does not need to take ages to do this. Below is an example cover letter and some online advice, in summary your letter needs to:

Explain who you are and your reason for writing (just one short sentence)
Explain why you are interested in this role, showing you have some insight to the organisation and their work and have a genuine interest in both them and the specific role you are applying for (one paragraph)
Explain what makes you a good applicant, linking aspects of your CV and skills to the requirements of this specific role. You need to make it clear how you meet the requirements (one or two paragraphs)

Have a look at this advice on writing a cover letter here
Have a look at this example cover letter for a Bioscience placement here. You will see how the letter has been tailored to the requirements of the specific position which is shown on the second page of the document
CareerSet is resource which will check and give feedback on the quality of your cover letter and can be accessed at this link

ChatGpt and cover letters. Using tools such as Google Gemini or ChatGPT to help with writing cover letters and applications is a new phenomenon and something employers are adjusting to. If using the tools saves you time and improves the quality of your applications, then it makes sense to do so. Ensure you don't totally rely on the tool as it won't be able to research the organisation and write about your motivation and specific interest but for some people it will be a good starting point. This article has some advice on using ChatGPT to write cover letters. Some employers may start to request you do not use such tools but otherwise it's OK to use it to help but not advisable to rely on it entirely.

Online Application Forms

Rather than asking for a cover letter, some employers will ask you to complete an online application form which helps them to standardise the applications they receive. Most online applications are a combination of personal details, education details and work history along with some questions about your suitability. Often the application form is just a way for you to register your interest and so long as you complete it accurately and show that you meet the right standard criteria you will progress to the next stage which will be a video interview or online tests. Other application forms will ask some additional competency questions and when doing these you should use the STAR technique which is explained on the career service website here. If you have any concerns about an online application from you can contact a.stainton@sheffield.ac.uk

Video Interviews

Many large employers, the ones who receive lots of applications like GSK, Pfizer and AZ, use video interviews to help shortlist. This type of interview is completed online via a video link you will be sent. There is no person interviewing you but a series of questions (about four or five) appear on the screen and you get around 3 minutes to answer each question. It can feel awkward talking into your laptop but it's nothing to worry about if you know what to expect. In most cases AI software is used to determine whether you pass the interview so you're not trying to persuade a person that you are suitable but just say and do the right things so the software says yes.

There is an article below about handling video interviews and keep the following points in mind to help prepare:

The software is likely to be assessing your body language, facial expressions, tone of voice and eye movements (to see if you are using prompts). That might seem a bit sinister but it's only what a human would do but the AI is less likely to be biased. If you ensure you sit upright, smile, talk a bit louder than you would normally and keep looking at the camera you'll be fine.
The AI will also be picking up on the choice of words you use, so try and use language and words that appear in the job details and on the organisations website about itself and its culture, values and mission.
The hardest thing can be getting the timing of you answers about right (usually around 3 minutes), so time yourself answering the questions beforehand so you get a sense of how much you can say at a steady pace for 3 minutes.
Practice video interviews via Shortlistme. Science faculty students can do practice video interviews to get familiar with the format and receive automated feedback at the shortlistme site. You can do a practice strength or competency interview and also do sample employer interviews with Roche and AstraZeneca.
Make sure you prepare for the interview, as you would any other interview, using the advice in the interview section below

This article from Graduates First explains a little more about the rationale for using video interviews
You can also do a practice video interview on the Graduates First portal here

In Person Interviews

If you get an invite for an in-person interview it means you are doing well and the employer thinks you may be right for their placement. Interviews may be online via zoom , teams etc or they may be in person. Either way the key to doing well is to prepare. It is advisable to contact the faculty placements team to help you prepare and practice for your first interview and we'll give suggestions on likely questions to expect. The advice and articles below offer some guidance on how to make a good impression.

You should prepare to be asked questions around 3 key areas. The organisation itself, what you know about them (their values, mission, products, customers etc). The specific placement you are applying for, why you want to do the role and showing that you have the skills or competencies required. About yourself and your achievements, your strengths, your goals and interests (this is where the mySkills tool will be useful)
To help anticipate the questions you are likely to be asked, you could paste the job details into ChatGPT and ask it to suggest possible interview questions for the role. Knowing likely questions makes it much easier to prepare.
For questions which require you to give an example of a skill or competency, use the STAR method which is explained at this link

This article from Target Jobs has some good example questions for placements and internship interviews
This article for SRG, a Scientific Recruitment Agency, has a detailed guide on how to prepare for an interview
This article from Indeed has example questions and answers for lab based roles, the examples are more relevant for those with prior experience but some may be relevant for lab based placement roles

Remember you can book a practice interview is you email scienceplacements@sheffield.ac.uk

Online Tests

Some placement employers use online, or psychometric, tests at the initial application stage to help select suitable candidates. These tests could be personality based or situation judgement based, to see if your preferences and priorities match those of the employer. Other tests are more functional and are used to assess things such as verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning or logical reasoning.

If you want to do some practice tests the university careers service has access to a range of practice tests via Graduates First, which you can access here
Target Jobs also give students the chance to do some practice tests on their website here

Assessment Centres

Some of the larger placement employers (GSK, Unilever, AZ etc) often use group assessment centres to help select placement students. Assessment centres will usually be at the offices of the employer but some also take place online. The idea of an assessment centre is to get a chance for the employer to see how candidates work with others, and on their own, and also gives the chance for you to meet staff and see the facilities. A typical assessment centre might last a full or half day and involves a range of tasks such as a group exercise, individual task, interview and presentation. It might sound daunting but most people end up enjoying the experience and the employer will aim for it to be a positive experience. The faculty placement team will be running some practice assessment centre sessions and the articles below have some useful advice.

This link has a detailed guide to assessment centres by the recruitment organisation SRS
There is some simple advice on assessment centres from Ratemyplacement here

Timeline for Placement Applications

Application Advice from the Careers Service

The careers service website has detailed advice and example on all aspects of the application process CVs, interviews etc take a look here
The careers service has also created an online course - How to succeed in writing applications
You can also get feedback on final draft applications from the careers service

Additional Support and Adjustments

Employers have a duty to make 'reasonable adjustments' to their recruitment practices and work environment so they are not discriminating against candidates such as those with any form of disability. If you'd like advice on how to disclose a disability to an employer, so they can make any required adjustments, you can email biosciences-placements@sheffield.ac.uk and we will be able to discuss this with you in confidence.

There is some very useful information about when / how / if to disclose a disability to an employer at this link

Using Chat GPT and other AI tools

It makes sense to use AI tools to help you save time and make more effective applications but it is also important to not rely to heavily or expect AI to do do everything. So long as you use it as a tool to help generate ideas or refine things, that is OK, asking it to create something and simply copy and paste is not. This document has some good advice on using AI tools in the recruitment process.

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