Introduction: Another day, another application form

Writing applications for jobs, grants and all manner of other reviews is a continual process within the scientific World. Forms tend to ask for specific, nuanced information leading to more of our precious time being spent digging up decades-worth of buried events just to evidence ‘A time I have communicated with a diverse audience’ than actually writing. Then, we have the doubt to contend with: What if I missed something? Surely I have a better example! I remember doing that – but when was it?

Given A) how short academic contracts can be and B) how many distinct workplaces our generation tends to work in over the course of a career, writing CVs can consume a considerable chunk of our adult lives. The application process is not going anywhere in the near future. We need to ask ourselves how we can make it as painless and efficient as possible.

Well, there are a few ‘hacks’. Apply for a few jobs and you will start to notice themes in the application process and in the ‘winning’ CVs. Let’s go over these themes and learn to not only ‘hack’ our time but more importantly, our success rate. Doing so, we can earn back so much more time to do the things we love – science!