Guide
What goes into your application dossier
Five parts, the right order and one PDF instead of ten attachments.
Your application dossier is the first thing a company sees of you. It does not have to be original, but it should be complete, tidy and honest.
The parts, in this order
- Cover letter: Why you want to learn this occupation at this company.
- CV: Your details, schools, taster placements, languages, strengths.
- School reports: Usually the reports from lower secondary school, the newest first.
- Aptitude tests: For example Multicheck or Basic-Check, if the company asks for one.
- Taster reports: The assessments from your taster placements.
If the job ad says something different, follow the job ad.
The CV
A CV for an apprenticeship is usually one page, two at most.
- Personal details: Name, address, phone, email, date of birth. Nationality and first language are common, but optional.
- Photo: Still common in Switzerland. A friendly, recent photo in front of a plain background, no holiday picture.
- School: The newest school first, with level and place.
- Taster placements: Occupation, company and when.
- Languages: With an honest assessment.
- Strengths and interests: Short and concrete. "I have been coaching the little ones at the gym club for three years" says more than "team player".
- References: For example your class teacher. Ask the person first.
Tip: Your email address should sound like you. "firstname.lastname@" looks better than a nickname from 5th grade.
One PDF instead of many attachments
Companies get many applications. A single, clean PDF is easiest for them: everything in it, in the right order, easy to read. Photos of school reports should be straight and bright, without shadows and without the table top at the edge.
In your Stifti account you fill in your CV and cover letter once and get a PDF with all your school reports at the push of a button. Everything is encrypted in your browser. Stifti cannot read your documents.
Common mistakes
- Typos in the name of the company or the contact person
- A cover letter that still has the name of another company in it
- School reports missing or incomplete
- Blurry phone photos instead of scans
- File names like "IMG_4711.jpg"
Before sending your dossier, ask someone to read it, for example your parents, a teacher or the career guidance service.
Stay honest
Do not write anything that is not true. Companies ask about it in the interview, and a weak grade is much less of a problem than an excuse. If a grade is not good, you can explain in the interview what you are doing about it.