B
C
D

2004
2004
2004

Many students hesitate to go into detail on their application forms about jobs that they see as irrelevant to their future career plans but any job can be important in giving evidence of your personal qualities. Even low-level and routine jobs generally involve at least one (and often all) of the following: customer service, teamworking, cash handling, working under pressure, time management. You don't normally have to list each and every job you have ever done, so if you have had a large number of short-term jobs, you can summarise them as follows:

1996 - 2001 Initially at home with two young children, doing some freelance word-processing work. Once the children had started school I held various temporary jobs in the retail and catering sectors before beginning my Access course, and continued to work part-time during the course.

Don't make lists: "reading, cinema, sport" under "Interests" will not tell the employer anything useful about you. Give details of the extent of these interests and any clubs, societies or achievements related to them. Which of the following looks better:

Wine, women and song or

• Founder of University Wine-Tasting Society: negotiated discounts with local wine merchants and organised several Society visits to Calais Volunteer worker at local Women’s Resource Centre, where I assist with childcare and organising fundraising events
• Member of University choir: have performed in many concerts on and off campus including the University Carol Service in the Cathedral.
  

List qualifications only if they may be relevant to the job or say something about you as an individual: first-aid, sports coaching or TEFL qualifications may fall into this category, but (for example) a basic food hygiene certificate is only likely to be of interest to employers in the hospitality industry.

If you do not feel that any of your previous employers are likely to be in a position to give you a reference (perhaps you were there a long time ago, or your supervisor has moved on) a schoolteacher, family friend, etc can be used as a character reference.

Always ask your referees' permission in advance, and give them a copy of your application - this will help them highlight the most important points. Don't worry if your referee is not based in the UK - most large companies can cope with this and even with references in languages other than English, although it may be more of a problem for smaller employers

Don't forget to state the part you played within the group, and the outcome of this task

Don't worry if the only "challenging situations" you can think of seem quite mundane. It is the approach you took to them that is important.

Don't just describe the situation and the result, but remember to outline the approach you took to this situation and what method of influencing worked best.

Again, outline how you went about devising your method, why you felt it was necessary and what the outcome was.

You could use it to cover anything which you have not had room to include in previous sections - to explain poor exam results, for example, or reasons for taking a year out/career break. You could use it to expand on your relevant skills and experience, or your interest in the company or to give more detail about relevant aspects of your degree studies, such as projects or dissertations. But do use this space - don't waste an opportunity to make an impression as an individual.