Top application tips
Tips for completing your application
We’ve tried to make the application process as quick and easy as possible. But it’s still worth investing time and energy in preparing your application. A strong, considered application can make a difference. With that in mind, here’s a few tips to help you:- Spend some time looking at the BP website so that you have a good understanding of what we’re looking for and what career options are open to you.
- Think carefully about the reasons why you want to join BP and what you have to offer.
- Make a clear and easy to read application. Make sure you give enough detail for us to be able to understand and assess your response.
- Try to use different examples when writing about your achievements and experiences. Think about all different aspects of your life – things you have done before university, activities you did outside your studies and your work experience.
- Answer the specific questions we have asked. Read the questions carefully and think through the response you want to give. And don’t cut and paste responses from other application forms – it’s often very obvious to us when people have done this.
- When describing technical things (e.g. your project work or dissertation) don’t try to blind us with science – try to keep it as simple and easy to understand as you can.
- If you have studied abroad, it would be useful if you could give an indication of the scale on which your results were measured (for example, whether a score of ‘9’ was out of a possible ‘10’ or ‘20’).
- Don’t skip any sections - good reason why we have asked you to give us the information.
- When you review your application, ask yourself:
- Have I answered the question being asked?
- Have I been clear about what I did and what I have achieved?
- Have I given all the information required?
- Can I express things more clearly than I have?
- Have I given the best examples I could have done to demonstrate my skills?
- Use the spell checker before you submit your application – it might find a few things you’ve missed.
Finally, here’s a quick checklist of some of the key information you’ll need to have to hand:
- Key dates – when you attended universities, when you worked, when you graduate
- Accurate contact information (including email) so we can keep in touch with you
- Details of educational/professional qualifications, including grades achieved
- Details of any projects or theses you have completed
- Information about awards, scholarships, publications etc
