Want to join us? Here's how to apply for jobs in our lab! (and other places!)

Job Application Process!

Given the diversity of cultures and correspondingly, diverse recruiting systems I would like to provide here some guidance on how to apply for an advertised job with our lab. This should also be helpful for applying to other jobs at our university and most probably other UK universities too. Please note there are other official websites listed at the end of this blog for applying to the University of Nottingham so do read those too.
So applying here involves two main steps: 1) the written application and 2) the interview.
The written application is an online form with a set of selection criteria. It is extremely important that the responses answer these criteria in detail. I would strongly advise candidates to make an offline document with the selection criteria headings and take time to answer each one. Then copy-paste your thought-through and edited response into the text box of the online form.
Make sure you have read the job description and craft your responses with that in mind.
When drafting your responses:

• Each criteria needs at least a paragraph - EACH CRITERIA. If we ask for a PhD in a relevant field tell us how your PhD is relevant to the field. 'Yes' is not an answer!
• Begin by stating how you meet the criteria
• Give explicit examples - what have you done in the past that demonstrates that you meet the selection criteria. Ideally include two detailed examples - preferably different scenarios. For example if we are asking for team work experience one example might be working with others in your lab group on a particular project, another example could be working with a team to do a public outreach event. For each example describe the team, your role and tasks within the team, and what the outcomes of that team were. 
• Try to state how that example is relevant to the job description
• Sleep on it. Alternate examples often come when you're not focusing on the task at hand.

When editing your draft response:

• Ensure your response answers the selection criteria, and each example is the best, most relevant example you have for the job description.
• Check that your claim of having the skills requested in that selection criteria is backed up by the evidence and that the relevance to the job description are all linked. Here I mean if the selection criteria is about team skills and you give a lab-work-based example, the explanation of how this will help with the job description must be about team work, not about lab skills (in all likelihood there will be another question related to lab skills if that's what we want to know).
• Check your response is written as concisely as possible and has been spell- and grammar-checked.

When transferring to the online form:

• Copy/paste your edited response into the online form
• Double check all the words transferred across and nothing got cut short.

Click submit and fingers crossed! 

So you've been invited for an interview: CONGRATULATIONS!!

Star Warch Fist Punch GIFfrom Star Warch GIFs

For now (and most likely for the foreseeable future) we are inviting people to come in person where feasible and otherwise conducting interviews online - this applies particularly to applicants not within the country to keep our carbon footprint down (however other reasons can be discussed for local applicants as appropriate to maximise accessibility).
​The interview itself: we will most likely ask you to present a 5 or 10 minute presentation (check your specific instructions) on something about your experience and why you want this job and we will then follow with 20-30 minute discussion based on a set of questions that we ask every candidate. Remember, specific information relating to your particular interview will be included in the invitation to interview that you receive from HR so do pay close attention to that information.
Asking you to give a presentation serves several purposes: 1) we hope it relaxes you a little to talk about something you can practice and should be something you know about (yourself and your ambitions!); 2) it shows us that you can communicate under pressure which is inevitable at some point in almost every job we would be advertising (from conference talks, to industry funders or end-users of the science). So prepare well for this (ideally ask a mentor or colleague to give some feedback on a practice talk!) - have visually interesting slides or props, and make sure you've practiced those first few slides to get past the nerves :)
When sending files (like the presentation) please make sure you save the document with YOUR name rather than the title of the talk which will be similar for everyone!
The questions in the interview will vary depending on the job but much like for the selection criteria, try to give more than a one-word answer and if you're not sure what we are asking, by all means ask for clarification. Also don't panic if you go off in a different direction to what we're looking for, we'll clarify the question and redirect you - it's normal. We are people too and we ultimately want to hire the person who's the best for the role so we will ask and prompt as needed.
There are other websites that talk about body language and things to think about for interviews (see links at the end) but ultimately try to relax and be yourself. 

I will say a couple of things about online interviews:

https://www.vecteezy.com

Find a room with as little background noise as possible and where there is a strong and steady (as much as possible) internet connection. Try to have a dark background - or at least not a window or light behind you. This is because most webcams (built-in or otherwise) are not good at balancing backlight which means your face will be in complete shadow if there's too much light behind you. It's also best to use headphones directly plugged into your device. When you have found the space and device you will be using check with a friend that the sound and picture are clear using the exact setup (computer, headphones and network connection) you will be using for your interview.
When you log onto the interview link - if there are technical glitches just take a breath.

• Check device settings (at time of writing we are using Teams and device settings is under the "more" option at the top of the screen) for the correct speakers or microphone (the ones on your headphones).
• If the camera wont work look for the camera symbol and deselect and select again, check the cover is off the camera (I've wondered why my camera wasn't on for a class once and then realised I'd closed the camera cover on the laptop!)
• if that still doesn't work but we can hear you, we will most likely carry on the interview just with audio.
• If the screen share doesn't work for your presentation, we can usually project from our side and you just tell us when to progress slides.
• If there is no sound try mute and unmute;  again check device settings for correct speakers. Within reason we may encourage you to log off and restart your computer and re-join - sometimes that solves everything.

Once we can hear each other we can make it happen so don't waste lots of time trying to make it perfect. Again the important thing is to breathe and not panic. Believe me over the last few years we've all experienced various technology dramas!  If you face a technical problem and still manage to present and answer questions it says a lot about your ability to overcome challenges!
(you may want to write this as a list and have it next to you during the interview to remind you not to panic and help you try things logically to solve the problem!)

We remember what it's like and understand you will be nervous, it's not something to be worried about in itself! Getting worried about appearing nervous is like a self-perpetuating spiral and there's no need - we know you're nervous, and we'll do our best to prompt and help you settle into the questions.
​
I hope this helps clarify a bit regarding what we are looking for in job applications! I understand how different the processes can be around the world and I hope this helps everyone understand our processes here!
I look forward to reading your applications! 

Links for further advice

Links for written application advice:
University of Nottingham:

• https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/jobs/howtoapply/application-tips.aspx
• https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/jobs/howtoapply/index.aspx

Elsewhere:

• https://www.katieroberts.com.au/career-advice-blog/how-to-nail-your-selection-criteria-responses/
• https://about.unimelb.edu.au/careers/selection-criteria
• How to get an Academic JOB - Writing Responses to Selection Criteria (REAL application examples)

Links for Interview advice:

• https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/careers/students/applications/interviews/index.aspx
• https://www.jobsinscience.com/info/index.asp?page=top-tips-for-science-job-interviews-26
  
• ​https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/interview-presentation-tips