BIOLOGY TEACHING ORGANISATION

PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT RECORD
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CAREER RESOURCES
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Edinburgh University CAREERS SERVICE has excellent training courses and skills development programmes (Interview Technique, Writing a CV, Insight into Management, etc.) The Careers Service also holds files of Job vacancies. Offices in the Weir Building, KB (Tel: 650 5773) and 33 Buccleuch Place (Tel: 650 4670).

Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA) has a STUDENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, with training sessions, opportunities for voluntary work, and Job opportunities.

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Some questions taken from the job application forms of major employers

[These questions appear on the Management trainee application forms, but many scientists go into management-related jobs, and the types of question below are of more general relevance]

Procter & Gamble

Give an example of when you:

• Set yourself a demanding goal and overcame obstacles to achieve it.
• As a leader of a group of people, set direction for them, gained their commitment and led them to achieve outstanding results.
• Had to think through a complex problem, which involved analysing data, developing options and implemented a solution (Outside academic work if possible).
• Developed effective working relationship with people from different backgrounds, or having different views, to accomplish an important result.
• Generated a new idea or better way of doing something that led to improved results.
• Organised your thoughts on a matter of importance to you, effectively communicated these to others and obtained their agreement.

Shell

• Describe your most outstanding non-academic achievement(s) involving other people.
• Describe a new event or activity that you have organized, why you did it and describe precisely your role.
• Analyse fully the main consequences of the increasing global demand for energy (Note that you must answer this in about 8 lines of writing!).
• How would your colleagues describe you in five keywords?

Scottish & Newcastle

• Give detailed reasons for your choice of career and your plans and ambitions in that respect.
• What do you consider to be your most important personal attributes?

Mobil

(This company also asks you to give details of deferred or repeated examinations at university.)

• Give details of main activities (societies, teams, etc. Include offices held) and interests outside university/school.
• Describe the achievement you were most pleased with while holding one of these positions of responsibility or memberships. What happened? What role did you play?
• Describe a situation from your work history where you have used your own initiative to achieve success. What did you do?
• If you have not worked during your vacations, please tell us why and what you have done with your time.
• Describe what you consider to be one of your most challenging situations. Detail how you became involved, and the key steps you took to reach a satisfactory conclusion. What was the final outcome?
• Give an account of a difficult situation you had to deal with which with hindsight you could have handled more effectively. What was involved? What were your key learning points?

Unilever.

This company asks similar questions to those above. In addition it asks:

Looking at your life as a whole, indicate three key events or experiences which you consider to have been instrumental in shaping who you are. Describe separately how each has influenced you.

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Your CV

The Careers Service provides help with CVs, job applications and interviews.
EUSA also has a valuable job-related skills programme

Below is some guidance offered by the BTO

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APPLYING FOR JOBS, AND WRITING A CURRICULUM VITAE

You will need to produce a c.v. at many points in your career, even as an undergraduate when applying for vacation jobs, etc. Guidance on this can be obtained from the Careers Service but the following points are worth bearing in mind.

1. ALWAYS target your c.v. to the particular job or employer, and always produce a personal short letter to accompany it. There is nothing more off-putting than a c.v. that looks stale or that seems as if it was produced as a trawl for jobs. For example the amount of detail of course content given on the specimen c.v. after these notes is appropriate when applying for a research position but not necessarily for a job in management - target your CV to the job you are applying for. In the covering letter you could give a brief summary of the skills that you think suit you for the job. An example of a covering letter is shown later.

2. THINK carefully about the design of your c.v. It should look professional and, if possible, it should stand out from the rest. Remember that an employer may have to sift through many c.v.s for one job, and there can be a strong element of chance in getting short-listed. Why not put a colour photo of yourself on the front page? And why not scan it in, showing clearly that you can use the new technology? It may not work for a scientific job, but it could be just right for a marketing job.

3. ALWAYS check the spelling, using a spell-check package. The common errors, such as it’s (which means "it is") when you really mean its (belonging to it), and dependant (a person dependent on another) when you mean dependent, will almost always consign your c.v. to the "round file" (the waste bin). Make sure that your c.v. looks good (see the specimen) and show it to someone like your Director of Studies, for comment.

4. ALWAYS try to emphasise your strengths without being cocky. If you have done something really interesting or unusual, then make a point of it. Lists of interests such as reading, listening to music and playing sports or walking will be found on 95% of c.v.s and nobody pays attention to them. But, other things do get noticed; for example, synchronised swimming (team leader), nineteenth century Russian novels, trombone (or piano etc.) grade X, first-aid proficiency (qualifications), back-packing in China, etc. are unusual and help to single you out from the crowd. If you mention an interest then you should be pleased if they want to discuss it with you at interview.

5. ALWAYS try to identify your "transferable skills". For example, as a student who has attended many lectures you are a good and sympathetic (?) listener, who has mastered time management, abstracting, sifting of information, etc. You have got the message!

6. ALWAYS give full contact details of your referees, including ‘phone, fax, e-mail address, etc. Similarly, make sure that an employer can contact you in any way convenient to him or her. Quite often, somebody who is short-listed for a job interview pulls out at the last minute, and the employer scratches around to find someone to fill that place. It could be you if you can be contacted readily!

7. ALWAYS obtain your referees' approval to cite their names, and make sure that your referees know what you are applying for. Send them a copy of the job description, and tell them why you think you are a good candidate for this job. If you have left university and still want to use an academic referee, make sure that you send your referee an up-to-date CV, saying what you have been doing since you left. Then the referee can write something authoritative and you will stand a much better chance of getting the job.

8. DO SOME RESEARCH. For example, if you need to apply to the Personnel Officer but you do not know the person’s name (or sex or title), then ‘phone the company and ask the receptionist. Similarly, do some background reading and prepare a suitable response to a question frequently asked at the end of an interview, "Is there anything that you would like to ask us?" But DON’T ask "How much holiday will I get?"

9. Finally, ALWAYS write to thank the employer (and your referees), even when you receive a rejection, and ask that your name be considered for any future posts. This again singles you out, and it can pay dividends in a few months’ time.

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SPECIMEN COVERING LETTER

2, Cherry Tree Lane,
EDINBURGH, EH7 5AU

Tel. No. 0131 888 7777

14 October, 2000

Mr J. D. Hibbert,
Personnel Officer,
Global Marketing Ltd
333 World Crescent
HOMERTON,
Surrey, WW1 3BB.

Dear Mr Hibbert

Global Resources Assistant

I write to apply for the post of Global Resources Assistant, as advertised in The Global Review (7 October 2000).

I am particularly interested in this area and have spent five years as a Deputy Global Resources Assistant, working on a voluntary basis. This experience, together with my qualifications in Whole World Studies at Edinburgh University and my communication skills, as evidenced by my experience in an editorial role in the Lothian Whole World Newsletter, are the main qualities I would be able to bring to this job.

I enclose my curriculum vitae and details of two referees who have agreed to support my application.

Thank you for considering my application and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Jane Austen

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SPECIMEN CV
(Note: this CV is designed for applications for scientific jobs. You might wish to emphasise quite different points (e.g. less detail about your Honours course content and more detail of the "generic" skills you have acquired) for other types of job.

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Curriculum vitae
(prepared: October 2000)

Name: Jane AUSTEN (née Smith)

Age and date of birth: 18 years; 17 October 1979

Place of birth and nationality: Bristol; British.

Marital status: Married.

Modules undertaken in my Honours year:

In addition to the core courses components on (1) Advanced Pharmacological Mechanisms, (2) Applications of Molecular Genetics to Pharmacology and (3) Drug development, I took the following elective modules.

Nature of Receptors

Emphasis was placed on mechanism of drug agonism and antagonism, ligand binding studies, receptor structure, classification of receptors, ion channels, G-proteins, cyclases and the PI cycle, and the role of calcium. Practical work involved ligand binding techniques and isolated tissue organ bath experiments.

Cardiovascular Science

Topics covered: physics of vascular resistance and capacitance, local and neural control of blood vessels, cardiovascular action and metabolism of prostanoids, cardiovascular sensory receptors and reflexes, cardiac rhythm, the roles of dopamine and platelet function. Practical work involved whole animal experiments looking at circulation and limb perfusion; isolated organ bath experiments on endothelium-dependent relaxation of blood vessels and isolated atria; platelet aggregation experiments.

Human Cardiovascular Studies

This course was clinically orientated and looked at the principles underlying the control and measurement of central and peripheral blood flow. Practical work involved a project measuring cardiac output at rest and during exercise in man, and the influence of b -blockers; also clinical demonstrations of the measurement of cardiac output.

Research project:

Supervisor: Dr. I. M. Obscure, Central General Hospital, Edinburgh.

Title: "Platelet aggregation studies in mouse model systems".

I worked in a small research team, using advanced techniques such as flow cytometry of fluorescently labelled cells, radiolabelling methods, and gene cloning and transformation to identify cell surface receptors.

Work experience: 1985-1989:

Saturday and summer vacation employment as:

Sales Assistant, Squeeze-It-In Shoe Shop, Leith Walk, Edinburgh. This has given me experience in customer interface, assuming responsibility for ordering of stock, management of accounts, team work, and the special problems faced by small businesses.

Special skills: Skilled in Windows-based computer applications: word-processing, graphics packages, spreadsheets (Excel), Powerpoint; basic competence in WWW authoring.

Interests: Bungee-jumping (instructor); swimming (competitor at regional level, freestyle); child development (member of Child Action Potential, Edinburgh branch); politics (Secretary, Membership co-ordinator and sole member of Edinburgh University Raving Loony Party).

Referees:

Dr. I. Flatter, Charm Road, EDINBURGH, EH9 5AU.
[Tel: 0131 000 0000, Fax: 0131 000 0001, Email: I.Flatter@ed.ac.uk]

Dr I. Tellital, Tobedecided Street, BRISTOL, BR5 1AT.
[Tel: 0117 000 0000, Fax: 0117 000 0001, Email: I.Tellital@ed.ac.uk]

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Time management and personal organisation

These can be difficult skills to master. The best advice we can offer is to look for indications that you need to develop these skills - or, perhaps, to change your lifestyle!

The indications are well-known to the teaching staff:

• students persistently late for lectures (and miss the 9 am lectures altogether)

• students hand their work in late (often because a computer "crashed" and wiped the disk clean)

• students perform well below their potential in exams.

Some advice:

1. If you must work at a part-time job (and sometimes this is desirable in terms of the "hidden" skills you acquire) then try to ensure that it is compatible with your study programme. Do you really want to graduate with a lower class of degree than you deserve? In the long run that could be a false economy.

2. When you are given a piece of set work, aim to start it as soon as possible - don't leave it to the last minute. The deadline really is the deadline, not the expected hand-in time.

3. Set yourself a weekly timetable, with at least one completely free day at the weekend, when you do no academic work. AND, pencil-in at least one work-free evening during the week. If you structure your life in this way you will have "quality" time to relax and enjoy other activities.

4. If you have an hour or two between classes, spend them usefully by working in a library of a computer lab, rather than sitting in a coffee bar. You'll be surprised how much you can do in those odd hours - and how little you then need to do in the evenings.

5. And now to exams! The key guidance here is two-fold.

(a) Your revision for exams can only be as good as the notes you took in the lectures. So, after each day's lectures make sure that your notes are readable and understandable. You don't need to write them out again. But you should ensure that they are a good basis for later revision.

(b) Success in exams depends on technique. We have provided detailed guidance on exams - you are strongly advised to read it and act on it.

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A YEAR, WITH SALARY, IN INDUSTRY?

Each year, the BTO will send an e-mail to third-year students, giving them the opportunity to apply for a one-year salaried placement in either Pfizer Central Research or Glaxo Wellcome Research and Development. Opportunities in these companies are open to students intending to specialise in Honours subjects like Biochemistry, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Developmental Biology, Immunology, Pharmacology, Physiology, Neuroscience, Microbiology and Virology.

We cannot guarantee that your application will be successful, but we have already had success in our first year of running this scheme.

Please note that you need to have a strong academic record. If you are offered a placement you would work for 12 months between your third and Honours year.

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