Applying for work

First of all you should try to decide what kind of work you are looking for and how many working hours you are willing to spend each week. Maybe you only want to work during weekends? You should also try to define your strengths and advantages and focus actively upon these in the job-seeking process. Some knowledge of Norwegian language will always be to your advantage and we recommend you to sign up for a language course soon upon arrival. Many places you will experience that some knowledge of Norwegian is an absolute demand.

Vacancy description
When a vacancy has been approved for filling, the advertisement announcing the position becomes the touchstone for all succeeding acts of recruitment, interview, and selection. The advertisement describing the position (position description), initiates the recruitment process.

The description should outline the position to be filled, including primary and secondary duties, and should list the qualifications that candidates must possess. A specific and concrete position description is beneficial in several ways: it forces the employer to focus on exactly what it desires in a candidate and to articulate those expectations; it provides guidelines by which candidates will be evaluated; and it encourages self-selection among potential candidates by permitting them to screen themselves from consideration.

Position descriptions should include the following:
• name or title of the position
• specific duties for which the person will be responsible
• educational requirements and experience desired
• area(s) of specialization
• deadline for receipt of application
• name, address, and telephone number of the contact
person.

Curriculum Vitae
The curriculum vitae (CV), also known as a résumé, is a document containing a summary or listing of relevant job experience and education, usually for the purpose of obtaining an interview when seeking employment. Very often, the CV is the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker, and therefore you should put considerable effort in making this document as accurate, neat and professional as possible. Bear in mind that the form of the CV may differ from country to country.

For Norwegian examples, follow this link
For other examples, search on the internet - or follow the link below:
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/curriculumvitae/Curriculum_Vitae.htm

Letter of motivation
In turn, the letter of motivation is your reply to the position description. Read and study the description well before you start working on your letter of motivation.

The letter should include the following;

Name and address of the applicant
Name and address of company
Heading - for example name and reference-number of the vacant position

• you can start of by saying that you wish to apply for the vacant position and refer to where the vacancy was posted (homepage, newspaper etc).
• who are you, where do you come from? Say something about your academic background, Masters-thesis etc.
• what kind of work experience do you have? Do you have any experience of particular relevance? If not, any experience is better than none at all.
• what are your personal qualities? Why should the employer choose you and not another applicant? This is your chance to argue why you are the better candidate.

Remember to be “to the point”. Instead of just listing personal qualities you should try to connect these qualifications to prior experience. By doing this you will seem much more thrust worthy.

Sincerely
Signature

Checklist
- the application/letter of motivation should normally not exceed one page
- grammar/spelling
- your motivation
- academic and personal achievements/strenghts
- overall impression
- correct and valid information