Hints and tips

Graduate or Industrial Placement programmes
Undergraduate programme


Graduate or Industrial Placement programmes

We assess your application form against a number of criteria. By giving us good examples of your skills and achievements in the following areas, you’ll boost your chances of going through to the next stage of the recruitment process.

  • Experience of working in a commercial environment (placement year, vacation experience, summer jobs, voluntary work, working in a family business).
  • Team-working skills (at university, at work or socially)
  • Providing a high level of customer service (going the extra mile to deliver above expectations)
  • Information Technology (understanding technology, applying technical skills to solve real world problems)
  • Communication skills (written and verbal, communicating across cultural barriers)
  • Problem solving (taking ownership of the problem, coming up with an effective, innovative solution)
  • Delivering results (working to tight deadlines, coping with changing circumstances, keeping your promises)
  • Determination (recovering after a setback, putting in extra effort to achieve a goal)
  • Enthusiasm (motivating others, influencing people, staying positive under pressure)

To help you prepare your application you can download a sample application form which will show all the questions we ask. (Please note that you cannot submit an application to us using this form.) You can also check out the detailed advice we offer in each of the following areas:

Work experience
Relevant work experience, from a placement for example, is a definite plus. However any form of work experience can add weight to your application. The financial realities of student loans and fees mean that most applicants these days will have had to work during their degree. To help your application stand out, make sure you do more than just list your employer and job title. Tell us what skills you’ve gained from your work experience and how these can be applied to Logica. Examples of transferable skills you may have obtained include dealing with customers, working in teams and working to deadlines.

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Competency based questions
The competency based questions on the application form allow you to give examples of how you have dealt with particular situations. You can draw on examples from your degree course, from work experience or from extra-curricular activities. It’s important to focus on how you dealt with the situation – particularly when describing team-working experience. We want to know about your contribution to the team and how this enabled the team to meet their overall objectives. So describe what ‘you’ did, not what ‘we’ did.

In the technical focus section, make sure you put your skills into context. A long list of programming languages and platforms does not tell us anything about your skills. So it’s essential to give some examples of how you have used a particular language. Don’t just say ‘I have three years Java experience’, describe how you’ve used Java giving examples from projects at university or from work experience.

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Location
We have offices throughout the UK. You can express location preferences on your application form and we will bear these in mind when assessing your application. Please be aware however that there may not always be positions available in all of our offices. The main locations we recruit for are South East England, Manchester, South Wales and Scotland. It’s also possible that your skills or work preferences may not match the requirements of the businesses based in those offices. For example, if you want to work in Space & Defence and in Aberdeen, we won’t be able to meet your aspirations as Space & Defence currently have no presence in Aberdeen.

More information on key locations for new graduates.

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Mobility
Working for Logica can often involve travel to client sites which can be anywhere in the UK or possibly further afield. Mobility is therefore essential. We would expect most of our candidates to be willing to work away from home for at least Monday to Friday, returning home at weekends.

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Business sectors
You can express a preference for a particular sector or sectors. It’s also fine to express no preference. As with locations we will take any preferences into consideration when assessing applications. We may however decide that you would be a better fit for a different business. We will always advise you which business you are being considered for if we invite you to attend an assessment centre.

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Spelling and grammar
Please check for mistakes in spelling and grammar before you submit your application. This may be pointing out the obvious but every year we receive a significant number of application forms littered with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Although the online application does not have a spell check facility, you can type the details in a Microsoft Word document or similar and use the checking facilities available. Remember however that even these will not pick up words spelt correctly but used wrongly so do please read your form through first. If you have spent some time working on the form have a break before proof reading or perhaps ask a friend to read to provide a fresh view.

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Personal interests and achievements
In some ways these sections are like ‘tie-breakers’ and as such can be the final elements that clinch an assessment centre invitation. As with work experience and the competency based questions, use these areas to bring out skills you’ve gained that you can apply to within Logica. For instance, you can use your involvement in sports activities to highlight your team-working skills or your time as social secretary of your halls of residence to demonstrate your ability to plan and organise.

We look for enthusiastic people, so show us you’re enthusiastic about the achievement that has given you most satisfaction. Believe or not, we have had candidates respond to this question with ‘none’!

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Writing style
Please remember you’re applying to work for a professional organisation and the writing style of your application should reflect this. Although we’ve played a significant role in developing text messaging we would not expect to see text message abbreviations in an application form!

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Contact details
If your application successfully passes all of our pre-selection processes we’ll contact you to arrange a telephone interview or invite you to attend an assessment centre. We will contact you either by e-mail or telephone. So please consider whether your e-mail address and mobile phone answerphone message are likely to convey a professional image to a potential employer.

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Undergraduate programme

We assess your application form against a number of criteria. By giving us good examples of your skills and achievements in the following areas, you’ll boost your chances of going through to the next stage of the recruitment process.

  • Experience in a working environment (Saturday jobs, summer jobs, voluntary work, working in a family business).
  • Team-working skills (at school, at work or socially).
  • Providing a high level of customer service (going the extra mile to deliver more than expected).
  • Experience with IT (understanding computers, using technology at school, socially or at work).
  • Communication skills (written and verbal, presentations, working in teams).
  • Problem solving (taking ownership of a problem, coming up with an effective, innovative solution).
  • Delivering results (working to tight deadlines, coping with changing circumstances, keeping your promises).
  • Determination (recovering after a setback, putting in extra effort to achieve a goal, working hard to achieve something which matters to you).
  • Enthusiasm (motivating others, influencing people, staying positive under pressure).

 

Before you start filling in the form, check out the detailed advice we offer in each of the following areas.

Doing your research
Providing the right information
Competency-based questions
Personal interests and achievements
Spelling and grammar
Writing style
Contact details


Doing your research
Do as much research on Logica and on the University of Winchester as you can. Use our websites to find out who we are, where we are, what we’re about and whether we’re right for you. This information will help you when you fill in the application form.

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Providing the right information
Keep your answers concise and structured, but provide all the information we ask you for in the notes attached to each question. Give us as much information as you can about what you’ve done even if your experience in an area has been brief and your skills are quite new. This will help your application as we try to see not only what you’ve done but also what you have the potential to do.

Take your time when you’re completing the form. It’s quite long, so you may need to work on it over several sessions. Make sure you save it regularly in case you have problems with your computer.

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Competency-based questions
The competency-based questions allow you to give examples of how you’ve dealt with particular situations. You can draw on examples from your school, from work experience or from extra-curricular activities. It’s important to focus on how you dealt with the situation – particularly when describing team-working experience. We want to know about your contribution to the team and how this enabled the team to meet their overall objectives. So describe what ‘you’ did, not what ‘we’ did.

Back to top

Personal interests and achievements
In some ways these sections are like ‘tie-breakers’ and as such can be the final elements that clinch an assessment centre invitation. As with work experience and the competency-based questions, use these areas to bring out skills you’ve gained that you can apply at Logica. For instance, you can use your involvement in sports activities to highlight your team-working skills or your involvement in a club or society to demonstrate your ability to plan and organise.

We look for enthusiastic people, so show us you’re enthusiastic about the achievement that has given you most satisfaction.

Back to top

Spelling and grammar
Please check for mistakes in spelling and grammar before you submit your application. We may be pointing out the obvious but every year we receive a lot of application forms littered with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Although the online application does not have a spell check facility, you can type the details in a Microsoft Word document or similar and use the checking facilities available. Remember however that even these will not pick up words spelt correctly but used wrongly so do please read your form through first. If you have spent some time working on the form have a break before proof reading, or perhaps ask a friend to read to provide a fresh view.

Back to top

Writing style
Please remember you’re applying to work for a professional organisation and the writing style of your application should reflect this. Although we’ve played a significant role in developing text messaging we would not expect to see text message abbreviations in an application form!

Back to top

Contact details
If your application successfully passes all of our pre-selection processes we’ll contact you to arrange the next stage of the assessment process. We will contact you either by e-mail or telephone. So please make sure your e-mail address and mobile phone answerphone message convey a professional image to a potential employer.

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Straight talking from Logica