Applying for a IT Support Officer job - personal statement proofing please

[whatnow]

Hey,

I am self emplyed but I dont think I can hack it any more so i'm looking for a full time job. I've seen a post for a IT Support Officer at a good place which seems good for me (for now) and I think I could do a good job for them. I've written out the section which is titled

'please uset his space to give details about your skills and experience and other information which you belive is relavent to your application.'

here's what I was planning on putting:

Since school I’ve always felt comfortable solving technical problems, resolution to computer issues effectively has always come naturally to me. If an answer isn’t immediately apparent I enjoy learning the relevant information myself and applying it to that particular situation.

Before college my IT knowledge was all self taught. College expanded what I already knew and taught me how to relate it to industry and every day life. I undertook courses ranging from Systems Installation and Maintenance and Windows NT Networking to Micro Electronics. These courses made me understand and appreciate different key aspects of the computer and how it integrates with itself and integrated peripherals.

After college I furthered my education at Staffordshire University studying a BA Honours in Interactive Multimedia. The course enabled me to put my knowledge of the practical, more hardware side of IT into functional front-ends designed for the user. Having the combination of a strong background in Information Technology and a good understanding of how users interact with the computer has given me a great insight into how humans and computers should collaborate.


These two courses and eight years experience with computer equipment has given me an understanding of how to not just maintain but use interfacing to a level that enables better human- computer interaction. Having this comprehension gives me a clear insight into how an individual has been using the computer and therefore what they should do if a problem has arisen.

After university I wanted to experience IT from an industry perspective. I now develop a range of multimedia for high profile clients. Past work involves websites for a division of the NHS, Doghouse Post Production Ltd and a BBC Photographer Martyn Colbeck. Aside from this, I am also working on a personal project developing online educational software for children.

If anyone thinks it sounds quimish, needy or lame then please say becuase I want to give off the right impression. I imagine as it's a 'junoir' post there will be people on here that'll be in the situation of my interviewer so it'd be nice to know what you'd think if you read it / heard me spout this out.



Also if I am filling out a hand wirtten application form and my handwriting is worse than a 2 year old with parkinsons do I want to just do it all in BLOCK CAPS? I figured it'd look really intimidating, like shouting but if I do it in sentence case I have a feeling it'll look really shit. I thought about doing it in pencil first but then it'd look a mess when you rub it out. I dont rate my writing skills much



thanks in advance guys and gals.

[lin]

Don't do it in block capitals, it will look shite, basically.

What you are saying is very good, very personal and informative.

Practice your handwriting, write it out on another piece of paper beforehand and analyse that.

Take your time and don't hold your pen too hard, relax. Most peoples' bad handwriting comes from rushing and holding the pen badly.

Good luck.

[Swiss Tony]

I never take written cv's any more... just a thought...

[whatnow]

thanks lin.

I blame my strangly developing mild illiteracy that's growing with age. Not sure why but it's annoying when letters just fall out incorrectly.

Definatly going to practice it a few times before I write on the form, i've already made one mistake on it and that was my name...yes I suck that much!

just revised the quote a little with help from shera, thanks mate


@swiss - I have to, they send a application form and request that everything be written on that and not a CV. plus it's gotta be written by hand from the applicant unless your disabled (getting there!).

bastards, i'd print it any day of the week. faster and neater.

[whatnow]

if i got a D in school for english and then retook it and got a B at college (I blame my school teacher) do i have to put the D down or am I better off putting nothing for school and just listing it in college?

sorry...i hate these forms

[AJ_007]

if i got a D in school for english and then retook it and got a B at college (I blame my school teacher) do i have to put the D down or am I better off putting nothing for school and just listing it in college?

sorry...i hate these forms

I had the same problem mate

I got a D in maths and retook it in college and got a B, on mine I have just listed it in with my school marks. Otherwise it looks like you struggled @ maths when it was your teachers fault which is partly the reason my 1st go @ it was crap

[whatnow]

Thanks AJ,

yeah i've always put it down for school too, I think i'll roll on with that plan. it's not like i'm lying :whistle

I've got worser things to think about i.e. no certifiicate for it (just a paper print out results thing) and no certifficate for my college course! lol at least i've got my uni one, so that'll do. shame staffordshire uni print on toilet paper with a lexmark

[AJ_007]

Think i've got most of my certificates in my NRA did everyone get on of those from school? (dark red folder with gold writing on the front)

[FireBlade]

looks alright to be honest id go with that

[shadowdancer]

I've got worser things to think about i.e. no certifiicate for it (just a paper print out results thing) and no certifficate for my college course! lol at least i've got my uni one, so that'll do. shame staffordshire uni print on toilet paper with a lexmark

I can honestly say I've never been asked to present certificates from school or college when I've applied for jobs.
so it might not be a point to worry about that much, Uni ones may matter but as you say, you have that one to hand.

also, your bit in the original post looks fine to me.

[whatnow]

cheers guys, only just got it off...seemed to take a very long time to write out only 300 odd words...but never mind it's done now, I can go back to my double life as a poker bandit

[Little John]

Think i've got most of my certificates in my NRA did everyone get on of those from school? (dark red folder with gold writing on the front)

Yeah I got one of those, at first I took it to job interviews, the 3 that I had and they never even looked at it.

As for the displaying of your exam results

why are you putting the results at where you acceived them? why not just list all your GCSE'a A-levels and degree? The will just assume you acceived your GCSE's at school and A-levels at college I wouldnt bother with th d as it was replaced when you received the B.

I think the hand writing is an IT thing I am exactly the same, it started when I was on a helpdesk where we logged all the calls manually while the software was being created no one could read my hand writing so I followed everyone else in to using capitals now th capitals are as bad as my hand writing was, everythig is now types or writen in my pda which was also bad as I now write as if I an writing in on the PDA uppercase mixed with lower case absolute nightmare, I got a D in english the first time re took it and got another D so I just gave up.

Self employment is great untill you have to sort all the recipts and invoices out for the tax return, I still need ot gret mine finished I cant remember when it has to be done by, I know I have missed the date the work out the ammount bu the accountant does that for me.

Good luck with the job

[whatnow]

thanks LG :thumbs

I made a few minor mistakes but hopefully they'll see through it.

it's all good experience anyway. Will post back if/when I get a interview, I hope I do, i'll wipe the floor with the other applicants if they get a chance to meet me