{"id":8032,"date":"2025-03-05T16:25:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T16:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=8032"},"modified":"2026-06-22T16:23:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:23:56","slug":"impress-employers-in-applications-and-interviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=8032","title":{"rendered":"Impress employers in applications and interviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Employers want the strengths, experience and skills you have gained from life and from studying at the OU. They increasingly say they particularly value communication skills, initiative and commercial or sector awareness<\/a>. As well as getting started on your interview skills<\/a>, you need to show that you understand the core values of the business or organisation you’re applying to, and why you’re a good fit for the role. Here\u2019s how.<\/p>\n

Connect with employers at live events<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Make the most of live events and careers fairs<\/a> to connect with employers, find out more about their core values and what they’re looking for in applications. Keep up to date with employer events and other opportunities in our monthly Careers Express<\/a> newsletter.<\/p>\n

Catch up on our recorded employer webinars<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Remember you can always watch our recorded employer webinars<\/a> for further insights and application tips. We record most employer events, useful if you can\u2019t attend on the day.<\/p>\n

Show your passion and personality: research the sector<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cFor me, it shows the richness of life, the complete person\u2026 It\u2019s evidence that you are someone who can get dedicated to things,\u201d <\/em>says Jack Harrington, CEO of the British Academy of Management, OU MBA graduate and guest on OU In Office Hours podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s increasingly important to show your passion and personality to stand out in a sea of AI-generated generic applications. Showing that you understand a sector by researching industry reports using our labour market information tool<\/a> not only demonstrates that you understand a sector but also shows employers you\u2019re interested in the role and their business.<\/p>\n

Apply what you\u2019ve learned to applications and interviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“When you\u2019re going through the interview and CV process, it\u2019s as important to be able to articulate the ‘how’ you\u2019ve achieved what you\u2019ve achieved, as it is to ‘what’ you have achieved. This will enable you and the organisation to assess whether, as two parties together, you will be a good fit\u201d Cormac Twomey, Director, Clear Ridge Consulting<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now you\u2019ve engaged with employers and done your research about them and their sector, you’re ready to impress in applications and interviews<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a>Julie Emery is a Development Coordinator in the OU\u2019s Careers and Employability Services. She supports careers-related activity both within the service and across the University, helping students to achieve their ambitions and fulfil their potential. Explore the rest of our blog for more articles from your careers team.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Employers want the strengths, experience and skills you have gained from life and from studying at the OU. They increasingly say they particularly value communication skills, initiative and commercial or sector awareness. As well as getting started on your interview skills, you need to show that you understand the core values of the business or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,69,61,65,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cv","category-interviews","category-jobs","category-networking","category-volunteering-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8032"}],"version-history":[{"count":67,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8835,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8032\/revisions\/8835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}