Searching and applying for Jobs | King's College London careers

Here we offer some tips on writing your application and supporting statement. To find out more about a job, you are welcome to arrange a discussion with a member of our staff. You’ll find contact details on the job advert.

Vacancies marked ‘internal only’ require a King’s ID. Internal applicants should apply through their HR digital services, regardless of whether the role is internal or external.

The application form

If you have a disability which makes it difficult for you to apply online you can request an application form in an alternative format by contacting the individual or department named in the job advert.

To apply online, click on the ‘apply’ button for a vacancy to see the application form. You should complete all sections of the form. Note: you cannot edit an application after you’ve submitted it. Review your application carefully before you press the submit button. Please note the deadline for applications is 23:59 (London time) on the date specified on the job advert, unless otherwise stated.

The application form includes the following sections:

Personal details
These are your name, address and phone number. We need these to contact you about your application.

Qualifications
Include only those qualifications that are most relevant to your application.

Current/most recent and previous employment
For both your current and previous roles you must include the job title, employer name, a brief description of your duties, salary, employment dates and reason for leaving (if applicable).

Professional registrations
These could be clinical registrations (eg GMC, GDC) or professional registrations. If you have no professional registrations to declare, select 'Not applicable'.

References
Professional services applications: we do not take up references for professional services vacancies, unless otherwise stated on the advert.

Academic applications: please provide a minimum of three referees, including your current or most recent employer. We will ask at least two of your referees to provide a reference prior to interview so make sure they are aware of this.

Additional questions
These include questions on how much notice you’ll need to give your current employer, your permission to work in the UK, and whether you require a Certificate of Sponsorship.

Equal opportunities
Information regarding your ethnicity, sex, religion is completely confidential and will be not seen by any person involved in the selection process. Details on how we use your data during recruitment are in our Privacy notice.

Your supporting statement
Do not provide your CV as your supporting statement. You’ll find details of the documents that you need to provide in the advert and/or further information document for the vacancy. We will not consider any documents that haven’t been requested as part of your application. We accept the following file types: Portable Document Format File (.PDF); Microsoft Word Document (.DOCX or .DOC); OpenDocument Text Document (.ODT). To make sure your documents will upload, check that:

files are not password protected
documents do not contain any macros or other executable code
documents are not read only.

Writing your supporting statement

Read the job description and key responsibilities carefully. The essential criteria are the skills and experience you need to do the job. The desirable criteria are ‘nice-to-have’. If you do not meet all the desirable criteria, you can still apply for the post. In your statement you should explain why you are interested in the post and indicate how your skills, knowledge and experience make you suitable for the role.

Structure your supporting statement clearly. For example, you may want to list each of the criteria in turn and explain briefly how your skills and experience match these requirements.

Give evidence that you have the skills, knowledge and experience we want for the role. It is not sufficient just to say that you can do something – provide examples of things you have done which demonstrate your competency. By describing what you did, how you did it, why you did it and the impact this had you demonstrate to the shortlisting panel that you understand what is required and that you are capable of doing it.

Be honest. If you don’t have the exact experience asked for, explain how you think your other skills are relevant or how you would address the gap.

Feel free to use examples from unpaid work such as voluntary work or social activities, if relevant. This may be particularly useful if you are just starting out on your career and have limited work experience.

Use positive language and write your evidence in the first person (using ‘I’ rather than ‘we’). For example, ‘I developed a system to….’, ‘I suggested that we….’, ‘I presented the ideas to my manager’.

The STAR technique can be a useful way to structure the evidence in your supporting statement:

Situation - set the context of for your story
Task – describe what was required of you
Activity – describe what you actually did
Result – what was the result of your actions.

Explain any gaps in your employment history. We recognise that people have varied career patterns. For example, tell us if you took a career break for caring reasons or took a period of voluntary work.

You’ll receive an email confirming that we have received your application. We’ll also let you know whether or not you’ve been shortlisted for interview. Please make sure that your contact details are up to date, particularly your email account, as we are likely to contact you via email.

Thank you for your interest in working at King’s. We wish you good luck with your application.