Tips On Answering Personal Questions On Intern Application Forms

Tips On Answering Personal Questions On Intern Application Forms

Most of the time, internship application forms would require you to answer some personal statement and competency questions. A lot of companies do this to see why you are applying for the position you are eyeing for. By questions like these, they can also find out what experience and which skills that you may have that might match their person specification.

A General Guide On Answering Questions

Generally, in able to answer these kinds of questions, you would have to refer from your past experiences at your university. Experiences based on academics, or other social involvements like sports, and societies can be helpful.

If you are answering set questions, be sure that the info you give essentially answers the question being asked. A lot of applicants beat around the bush with their answers and end up losing track of what their point really is. Also, be sure that you are able to supply evidence for each answer you give.

Again, take note of special instructions like word counts; be sure to stick to this for any extra words you use might be ignored. Try reading again through the person specification requirements and try to highlight and pick out essential characteristics they are looking for and relate them with your experiences through writing.

Personal Statements

Personal statements give you the opportunity to display how well you can handle the job. Just like with your curriculum vitae, you have to vigorously sell yourself, along with your skills and achievements to your employer. If you don’t exhibit with examples why you are qualified for the job, then most probably getting an interview is impossible for you.

One vital thing to remember when making a personal statement is that you should concentrate on all the characteristics that the person specification indicates. Also, the job description is also a good guide to base your write-up. Be sure to answer these using specific examples from your experiences like previous work placements, jobs, education or leisure interests.

Be systematic in writing. Try to organize your thoughts to make your write-up a good one. If you have time, try to make an outline first of your write-up, so you can have a guide on the important points you may want to emphasize. Also, do not forget to use active and positive language when describing your achievements and skills.

If they ask you your reason for applying for the position, try to emphasize on the things that you can offer them and what you want to gain from the job. Do not forget to state your desire to achieve professional experience to strengthen your academic knowledge.

Competency-based questions

These types of questions are becoming very common on application forms nowadays. However, you should take note that these involve a different set of talents than answering personal statement questions.

Most of these questions begin with statements like "Give an example of..." or "Describe a time when you…". They also ask for instances of specific skills like leadership, teamwork, persuasiveness and the likes.

Competency-based questions are as important as personal statements. They also determine if you will be offered an interview or not.

One technique used to answer such, is the STAR approach. STAR stands for: situation, task, action, and result. This can provide you an organized manner of answering the question. First, you state out the situation, and then you indicate what task you were supposed to do.

Next is what was the action you did and lastly, what was the result of the action.