Your cover letter should be no longer than about one and a half pages.
Express assertions and motivations about yourself but do not make it too detailed.
Every recruiter is aware that there may be gaps in your CV and in order to have this explained in more detail, telephone interviews will be conducted. Therefore, all this detail must not be explained in a cover letter, and you do not have to apologise for any gaps.
Avoid a bulleted list of skills (eg: "I am a team player, communicative, confident etc. "). Make sure to give direct examples.
Give a brief explanation of your decisions (eg: why you want this job after your studies? Why have you sent in this application?)
Be sure to explain, in one or two sentences, the things you are enthusiastic about and have a passion for.
You must decide for yourself whether you want to give your cover letter a personal touch with a quote or your moto etc. Above all, it is important to include your professional qualifications in the documents and in your cover letter, and this is where the main focus should be.
The motivation behind your application and for the company can be summarised, however it should definitely not be missed out.
The CV should be clear and legible. Highlight the dates and corresponding roles.
The CV should be arranged chronologically, beginning with your current position.
In general, only experiences which are necessary and possibly important for the position should be mentioned.
Mention any information that allows an insight into you as a person, which could include hobbies, travel abroad, honorary positions, part-time jobs, languages, IT skills. All of these points can demonstrate certain competencies, which will play a role during the interview.
Private information about your parents, siblings or spouses are not relevant to your personal assessment and can therefore be omitted.
Join our recruiter Philipp for one day
Every day, about 100 BASF employees work hard to find the perfect match for both candidates and the company. Philipp du Bois from our Engineering team is one of them – and he will tell you more about his job.
You sent off your application and have been invited for an interview? You don’t know how to best prepare? Marcel, a recruiter from Berlin, can tell you what to expect.
Large production sites with many gates can make your arrival at the interview more time consuming. You should therefore leave plenty of time for your journey.
Go through the job posting and your application documents again and prepare yourself for potential questions.
Research the company and think about why BASF is the right employer for you.