How to make an appplicationletter and curriculum vitae for the Western World

1. REQUIREMENTS APPLICATIONLETTER & CV
Saxion University of Applied Sciences
The Netherlands
Sustainability at Saxion
ir. Gerard A.M. de Fraiture
Retired Senior Lecturer Environmental Sciences
November 2009

2. Sustainability at Saxion
Targetgroup
• Officials who have to select YOU!
• Out of 1,000 applicants
• Looking for RELEVANT information:
short and compact
• They prefer a personal style
2

3. Sustainability at Saxion
DON’TS
• Repeating information
(in application letter and CV)
• Religion, parents, health, height, weight,
… (not relevant in the Western World!)
• Indonesian abbreviations
(give only the English translation!)
• Elementary & High school
(otherwise you cannot enter university!)
• Tell not ‘I am not satisfied yet with what I did ’
• English spelling faults (excellence?)
3

4. Sustainability at Saxion
Inspiration?
Inform yourself at the internet:
http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/europass/home/v
ernav/Europasss+Documents/Europass+CV.csp;jse
ssionid=8EEEE460D4AB2EBEE2384152FADA04D4.w
orker_portal_cms
Inform and personalize:
don’t ‘copy/paste’
4

5. Sustainability at Saxion
Main structure CV
• Personal information
• Educational background (with GPA/date)
• Organizational (& work) experiences
• Language and informatics skills
(give TOEFL / IELTS-score & date)
• Personal talents (unique selling points!)
• Within 2 pages A4
5

6. Sustainability at Saxion
CV: personal information
• Full name (nick name) picture?
• Place / date of birth (age)
• Address (x km from parents place)
• Phone (cell- and hand-)
• E-mail address
• Nationality
• Gender (not ‘sex’)
• No identity card & expiring date
6

7. Sustainability at Saxion
CV: educational background
• From recent to past
• Name university, faculty and your
major (not address) / GPA & date
• Relevant and major extracurricular
courses (not seminars of one day!)
• Not language and informatics
courses
7

8. Sustainability at Saxion
CV: organizational and work experiences
• From recent to past
• Timeline / organization / position /
responsibilities:
give overview in a table
• Select major experiences
(give relevant overview
to show your gained competences)
8

9. Sustainability at Saxion
CV: language and informatics skills
• Language:
preferent in TOEFL/IELTS-score
& test date
• Informatics: major skills
(every student is expected to be able to work
with Windows, MS Office and the Internet!)
9

10. Sustainability at Saxion
CV: personal talents
• Difficult to know when you are 20 years old!
• Ask your friends: they can easily tell you what
make you unique (as you can tell them!): just
interview them and write it down!
• Come in this way to about five
‘unique selling points’
(and ‘young’, ‘energetic’, ‘hardworking’,
‘motivated’ and so on are not unique!)
10

11. Sustainability at Saxion
CV: lay out
• Use header (name, place and date) and
footer (page number and amount of pages) to
identificate your CV
• Deliver a pdf-file
• Close with: ‘I certify that all information and
data given in this curriculum vitae are true and
correct and was made in good faith and with my
best knowledge’ and undersign with date
11

12. Sustainability at Saxion
Main structure application letter (1)
I focus on requirements
Huygens Scholarship Programme:
http://www.nuffic.nl/international-
students/scholarships/worldwide/hsp-huygens-programme
Start with your wish to apply for the
prestigious HSP Huygens Programme by
the Dutch institution you would like to
study at
12

13. Sustainability at Saxion
Main structure application letter (2)
• The most important criterion is top
quality in all senses of the word:
show and prove this in your
application letter and CV
• The assessment of your application
is solely based on your application
file: give all relevant information!
13

14. Sustainability at Saxion
Main structure application letter (3)
About your excellence, mention:
• you have obtained excellent results in all
your previous studies and you are in the
top 10 % of students in your study
• make a connection with gained
competentes out of extracurricular
activities
14

15. Sustainability at Saxion
Main structure application letter (4)
Your motivation include the following points:
• how and why you have chosen this study
programme at this University of Applied Sciences in
the Netherlands; have you already connections?
• what value this programme would add to your
previous education (deepening and broadening?)
• what the Dutch programme would mean for your
future career
• why en in which way you plan to develop your
talents
15

16. Sustainability at Saxion
Lay out application letter
• Give it your personal style
• Give structure with one subject in
one paragraph
• Consider every word: come to the
essence in 1 page A4, letter size 11
• Deliver a pdf-file
16

17. Sustainability at Saxion
References from your Indonesian University
Please ask them to focus at:
• your personality and specific
achievements
• what and why of your choice for your
Dutch programme
In a way that they deliver a maximum
contribution to your application for HSP
17

18. Sustainability at Saxion
In closing
It’s up to you!
I wish you all you need for a
successful application
Saxion will give all she has to make
nomination letters that come to the
requirements of HSP
18