Four Dos When Applying for PhD Scholarship, By Semiu A. Akanmu.

I posted this advert on my Facebook wall. I do this anytime I felt the beneficiary could be on my wall, or on my friend’s wall. The world in now on our palms; we must take charge of the cyber-habitation. 

I have personally recruited two lecturers for my university through this means. But as usual in those past experiences, potential applicants’ handling and reactions to job-advert speak of unpreparedness to take the job market’s bull by its horn. And since the proverbial extinction of bed bugs is the only reason for non-blood-stained fingers, it is, therefore, only natural that we sounded this admonition one more time. Perhaps, this could get someone off the job-expectant list. Funded PhD opportunity is a job, it must be accorded all seriousness job search demands.

"I'm looking for 2 PhD students who wanted to do research in data science, working in solving real oil and gas industrial problems; working closely with oil and gas operational engineers in data analytics.

“Full scholarship for 3.5 years with monthly stipend.

“The candidate must have strong math background; must have taken operation research, stats, formal methods and ordinary differential equation (ODE) courses. Passionate in writing journal papers and willing to travel to east coast Malaysia.

“Contact me at izzatdin@utp.edu.my if you are interested and qualified or you know someone that is interested."

“Dr Izzatdin Abd Aziz

“Assoc. Prof

“UTP.”

Ladies and gentlemen: Life is tough, ambitious life is tougher. So, ambitious person must be the toughest! Life is tough. Literally. Tuface Idibia’s lyrics, “If dem tell you say e easy, na setup”, is a truism. What I have seen in my less-than-a-year stay in the United States, in terms of the crisis in the labor market, in which white folks are not even immune, allude to the fact that unemployment and/or underemployment is a global phenomenon. To get a bite, you must be tough; to get bites, you must be tougher; to have its decent meal, you must be made of iron.

It is an irreducible minimum to ensure that you up your game in the hyper-competitive job market.

1.   Pay attention to details

Attentively read the job prescription and follow the guide provided. Asking “what do I do now?" after an explicit “how to apply” or not noticing I am not the person calling for the application, despite the inclusion of the caller’s name in the job advert speaks of lack of attention to details. This does not, in any way, condemn those who reached out to me for guidance.

2.   Customize your application/cover letter

Your application or cover letter must address the desired qualifications and/or experience of the job prescription and prove same. For instance, considering the said advert, you must state that you have taken and excelled in at least 80% of the requisite courses for the PhD research. You have no business applying if you have not taken and excellently passed, at least, three out of the four listed courses. You stand a better chance if you have done more related courses that could prove your goodness of fit.

3.   Accompany your application with supporting documents

Even if the job advert does not request for other documents, it is no crime to accompany your application with minimal documents that would support your case. For instance, an unofficial transcript and resume, and a copy of a published article, or unpublished manuscript, would be good supporting documents in this case.

4.   Proofread your mail and documents

Check your tenses, your spellings, capitalization, and write professionally. It is not wrong to ask for a third eye review before you hit that submit button.