Skills for Work: Applying for Jobs
Applying for jobs teaches learners to match their own skills to suitable jobs, search for vacancies, read job adverts, complete application forms or CVs and use sources of advice such as Careers Wales. It is one 20 hour Skills for Work unit that learners combine with other units into a Skills for Work, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma. The assessment criteria do not require a computer, but most real job searching happens online, so the digital work sits in searching job websites, keeping a job search log, completing online forms, producing a CV and judging which online advice services are useful.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Medium
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Four learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3. Evidence is compiled into a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours, Skills for Work group.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2. Evidence is compiled into a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours, Skills for Work group.
Skills that use Evaluating and improving digital content
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Completing application forms and creating a CV
Learners use a simple job application form at Entry 3, complete one accurately at Level 1 and create a job application or CV suited to a specific job at Level 2. The forms and CV are required by the assessment criteria, and the pack accepts forms on paper or digital, so typing a formal CV in a word processor or completing an online form is the natural but not compulsory route.
DCF: Creating digital content, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils fill in an online form for a school club, checking each box has the right information before they press submit.
- Year 8
- Pupils type a one page personal profile in Word using headings, bullet points and a consistent font to show their skills and interests.
- Year 9
- Pupils create a CV from a template for a weekend job advert, edit the skills section to match the advert, then improve the layout after peer comments.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcome 3, assessment criterion 3.2, page 5; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 3, assessment criteria 3.2, page 6; sources of evidence, page 9
“Create a job application or CV suited to a specific”
Progression step 3
I can use a range of software to select, produce and edit a range of multimedia components for a purpose, such as:
- text and images, e.g. format text (bold, underline, italics, highlight); insert and edit text boxes; columns; use refine tools (spellchecker, find and replace); word wrap; crop; alter size and shape; alter images; add effects; trim and split sound and video clips; transitions; onion skin
- presentation, e.g. page orientation; animations; transitions; remove and alter images; use background; use action buttons to create hyperlink; embed objects.
I can ensure my output is appropriate for specific purposes.
Progression step 4
I can explore and develop a range of formal text document structures for different audiences and purposes.
I can suggest and make improvements that are relevant for audience and purpose, based on feedback and self-evaluation of my digital work.
Progression step 5
I can create formal text documents for a professional audience, incorporating the use of collaborative review tools into activities.
Good to know
- Unit codes are S651E1, S651E2, S651E3, S651L1 and S651L2, and the unit is "GLH 20" in the Skills for Work suite (Unit overview, page 3).
- No special equipment is needed: "Assessment of this unit should not require any specific resources." (Resources required for assessment, page 12).
- Paper or screen both count. Possible evidence includes "completed job application forms (paper or digital)" and "screenshots or printouts from online job searches or applications" (Sources of evidence, page 9).
- Evidence can be photographs, video or audio: the list includes "photographs or videos of practical activities, group work, or presentations" (Sources of evidence, page 10) and the specification lists "video/audio recordings" as an evidence type (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- The portfolio need not be paper: the term portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- Suggested assessment tasks are optional: "These tasks are not mandatory." Teachers may adapt them or write their own (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- AI tools must be acknowledged. Misuse includes "Failing to acknowledge use of AI tools when they have been used as a source of information" and using AI so the work no longer reflects "the learner's own work" (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.6, page 21). This matters here because the pack lists a resource on "Using generative AI in job applications" (page 11).
- Spelling and layout are not judged unless a criterion asks: "Assessor judgements should focus on meeting the standard, not spelling or presentation unless specifically assessed." (Sources of evidence, page 9).
- Appendix A of the specification ticks Digital Competence for this unit (page 29), and the pack names "online job searches, completing electronic forms, and using digital tools to create applications and CVs" (Unit overview, page 4).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names VCSE Retail and Customer Service and GCSE Business as related WJEC qualifications, and both cover recruitment and what employers look for. Writing a CV and a formal application builds on the formal writing in GCSE English Language and Literature, and producing a well presented CV in a word processor links with the document skills in GCSE Digital Technology. Within the Skills Suite the pack names Interview and confidence techniques, Exploring career pathways, Personal development planning, Jobs of the future, Work experience, Career creativity and Working in Wales as units to deliver alongside it, and Using IT in the workplace covers the same online forms and documents in more depth.
Source: WJEC Applying for jobs unit delivery and assessment pack, read with the WJEC Entry 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life and Skills for Work specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).