Writing an Admission Essay

Definition:

“An admission essay is used to assess the abilities of an applicant. The same basic structure will be used whether the applicant is applying for a vacancy with a company or a place on a college course.”

Basically, the applicant should use this as an opportunity to provide additional information to that provided on an application form or curriculum vitae to enable the prospective employer to make a better judgement about a candidate’s suitability. The essay may also be used to judge a candidate’s writing skills, so close attention should be paid to presentation.

Usually, the admission essay contains information about a candidate’s hobbies, interests, skills etc. and should be used to provide as broad a picture as possible of the person applying for the position. Essentially, it is an opportunity for the candidate to sell themselves so it should attempt to adapt or emphasize points in the applicant’s background which will be particularly applicable to either the job or course for which the applicant is applying; keep this in mind when writing your admission essay.

Whilst most admissions essays will require the candidate to write about themselves, on the lines of ‘what are your main interests’ or ‘what are your ambitions for the future’, it might be the case that a specific topic will be given which appears to be unrelated to the vacancy, such as ‘describe an important event in your life’ or ‘describe someone who has had a significant effect on your life’. Whilst these may appear to be unrelated to the vacancy, they do, in fact, give the assessor significant pointers as to the suitability of a candidate and, as such, are extremely important, especially as admissions essays are often used to make the final decision on a ‘marginal’ candidate. It is a good idea to write about what you know, as this will be where writing skills will be strongest and will also be most likely to give the reader an insight into your character.