Tips for Applicants

As a rule, your written application is your first calling card. It is hence important to make sure that your application is absolutely faultless. You should be sure to observe the accepted standards by all means - which is not to say that your application cannot be unique. You are not a robot, after all, and you just want to make your own personal impression.

• Your personal covering letter,
• Your chronological curriculum vitae,
• A professional passport photo,
• Copies of your certificates (including school marks from the last year and, if possible, half year of schooling)
• All the other documents requested specifically in the job advertisement.
  
  

All documents should be on DIN A4 format paper. Your curriculum vitae and all the copies should be placed in a high-quality report binder of neutral design. The covering letter should lie free inside the translucent cover of the binder. It is best to use a neutral paper; embossed or letterhead stationery can leave a boastful impression. Be sure to produce all your personal writing on a computer or typewriter - unless you are specifically asked to provide these in longhand.

As to the content:

• Be brief. Clearly express why you have chosen your desired career, why you have chosen our company and why you are the best candidate for the position.
• Tell the reader when you will complete your schooling and what your leaving certificate will be.
• At the end of your letter, you should ask for the opportunity to introduce yourself in person.
• Any information on special extra-curricular activities, such as membership in a sport club, activities to help youth clubs or participation in your church community is always helpful. Volunteerism shows your willingness to get involved in the community.
• It is important to express yourself directly and confidently rather than hesitantly and with lots of questions.
  
  

Formally:

• Avoid any spelling errors if at all possible. If you are unsure, ask your parents or a former language teacher to take a look at your letter. Do not be embarrassed by this, it is the reasonable thing to do. The spelling checker in a word processor can help you avoid the worst spelling errors.
• Your name goes at the top left-hand side of the letter. Put your name, address, telephone number and – if you have one – e-mail address there. The date should also be correct.
• Be sure to put our correct address and the correctly spelled name of your contact person right under your name.
• Avoid putting “Re:” in front of the subject line of your letter, and do not highlight the subject with boldface. The subject line should contain the correct job title and the place where you saw the job advertisement.
• Avoid writing more than one page. Writing more pages leaves an impression of uncertainty and a lack of focus.
• You should sign your letter using a fountain pen and not a ballpoint pen. The documents included should be listed under “Attachments:” below or – if there is too little space – next to your signature. These might include you photo, curriculum vitae, university degree or the (number of) certificate copies.
  
  

As to the content:

• Your curriculum vitae should contain your personal data, information on your schooling as well as your extra-curricular interests and activities.
• A curriculum vitae should not contain any chronological gaps. Did you spend three months for instance in Austria? Very good! Make sure to let us know about it. It will show us that you are not only independent, but that you also have very good practical knowledge of German.
  
  

Formally:

• The chronological curriculum vitae has a chronological structure. Please be sure to put it in the form of a table for easy reference. The format should give the reader a clear overview of all your important information at a glance.
• Paste your photo – with your name written on the back – in the right-hand upper corner of the first page. Or better, affix the photo to the page using photo corner mounts. By the way, when you have a passport photo made for job applications, be sure the photos are of a high quality: you want to make a friendly impression. Simply getting snapshots from the nearest automated photo booth is a poor way to save money on your application.
  
  

• Always send copies, never originals. Important here are copies of your school certificates and marks from the last school year or from the last half year of the current school year.
• Please make sure to send references from any internships in which you have participated.
• If you have taken any school courses that are not listed in your school reports, be sure to send documents showing these along with the other copies.
• The latter point also applies to any extracurricular activities you may have participated in – as long as these are relevant to the job you seek.
• Have you had any jobs during school holidays related to the job training you seek to take? If so, be sure to send references showing such jobs.
  
  

Even if we should reject your application, hold your head high. It is essential that you do not take any rejection letters personally. Sometimes you can simply have bad luck. REWE in particular offers a large number of very popular training positions, meaning that many apply for a limited number of free slots. And when a large number of very qualified applicants compete for only a few training slots, you also need a bit of good luck to succeed. Even if you should receive a number of rejection letters, this does not mean at all that you are unsuited for your dream job.

You should take two weeks off to consider what you may want to do to improve your application and then get right back to working on applying for jobs. Should you receive another series of rejections, you may want to reconsider your application strategy more critically. Is your application truly free of errors? Do your documents support your aims? Does your letter appeal to the reader? Even if it sounds like a redundant statement: We can learn from our mistakes. Once you have taken a critical look at the reasons for the rejections, there is nothing that can hold you back from applying again with renewed vigour. We wish you the best of luck!