I am Miss Bailey, Head of Careers and Widening Participation Department at Medic Mentor, and subsequently, one of the people reviewing the sheer volume of applications to our Virtual Medic Mentor Medical Society!
Before giving away my secrets, I thought I would share with you why I am writing this blog. I am so passionate about helping and supporting people and this stems from my extensive career in the training, education and recruitment industries over the past 15 years or so. Until working my way up through the ladder to hiring employees for big companies like Nando’s and Jaguar Land Rover, I never really appreciated what an exceptional application form looked like, and what it is like shortlisting from over 300 applications for 10 jobs! Sitting on the other side of the recruitment line really opens your eyes up to what an exceptional application form really looks like! I anticipate a large amount of applications to be selected for the committee of the Virtual Medic Mentor Medical Society, so I wanted to share my tips for success with you!
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Before you start typing your answer
If you are new to Medic Mentor, and even if you have been a student with us for a while, refresh your knowledge on us, by reviewing the content of our website! As part of the committee, we are looking for knowledgeable students who appreciate the vast support of programmes and initaitives on offer to aspiring students. Often, students (especially new Medic Mentor students), will look to you for help and guidance in this area, and will expect you to point them in the right direction. The more involved you are, the more competent you will be, because you will have first hand experience and be the most prepared applicant! So get as involved as possible, for your own benefit, and this demonstrates your committment to Medic Mentor and the MM community.
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Assessing your current skill set
Being appointed into the committee will of course develop new skills for you, but what skills, knowledge or experience might you already have that you can use to support your new role? Think of a short example that you can reflect on in your application form and show how you feel this will help you if you are appointed.
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Review the duties of the roles
If you are interested in a certain role/roles, the way to make your application stand out is to mirror phrasing that appears in the descriptions. You may find an experience you have had would provide the perfect example of why you would suit that particular role.
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Prepare your answers for the questions
Approach compiling your answers in the same way you would prepare for writing your UCAS personal statement! Write a draft of your answers and perhaps ask a family member for feedback before committing to click send. In fact, I would go one step further and ask a Medic to look at it, because after all, the central committee who are reviewing your applications are all made up of doctors, vets and dentists. The same applies for your UCAS applications too.
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Deadlines!
The application deadline is 30th April at 5pm. You have worked hard on your application, but any applications that are received beyond the deadline are sadly not looked at. If it helps to ensure you submit your application on time, set a reminder for 4pm on 29th April 2020! This alarm will give you plenty of time to review your application, one final time before submitting!
I want to end this with wishing you all good luck! I genuinely am looking forward to reading the applications. I know this will be a hard decision because you are all amazing students! This committee will be influential and amazing, and I look forward to seeing the work you do!
If you have any questions, post them in the comments section below. Good luck everyone!
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This is great advice! Thank you! Looking forward to applying for a committee position 🙂
Yay! go for it!
Dr Siva
Thanks for this really great support. I’m sure loads of people will benefit from this in their applications.
I hope that you do too! Well done for being so involved Aryan! You have the heart of a Mentor!
Thank you for such great advice! Very Beneficial! I will definitely use this information when applying . Can’t wait !
Brilliant!
Thank you for these helpful tips! Not only can these be used for applications for a place in the committee, but also for future applications to come. I also feel that every application one does is a learning experience – regardless of outcome. Looking forward to putting this advice to action!
Absolutely right. There are so many medical students who are still afraid of applications. But amazing doctors/vets/dentists don’t bat an eyelid, because they appreciate that failure is always going to be ok as long as you tried your best.
Do the best that you can and I am sure the feedback will also be incredibly beneficial for your medical school application too!
Great advice and an impressive resume! I will definitely use these tips for my application for a place on the committee.
If you heed Miss Bailey’s words of wisdom you cannot go wrong!
how will the positions be decided
They will be reviewed by the central committee (the Education Directorate) and the Vice Presidents and the President will be involved in the decision making. I believe that for the President and VP role there may even be an interview (virtual) if there are some difficult choices to make!
Dr Siva
thank you
Great advice
thankyou dr siva
Good advice! I can’t wait to use these tips.
This is a great opportunity for students to help them in their application forms. Thanks for your support.
Absolute pleasure! It is such a rewarding thing for me to be involved in. I remember being in the same position!
Thank you everyone! I have received a lot of application forms already and looking forward to reading them! If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly on schoolvisits@medicmentor.info
Thank you for the advice!!
We have reached the deadline for applications now! Thank you to all of you for submitting the applications, we have recieved approximately 150!! I look forward to reading through them!