Careers

We encourage you to read the advertised job advert and job description in full. The person specification section of the job description is an honest list of what the hiring manager needs in someone to deliver the job fully. Read the person specification in full and assess whether you fulfil at least the essential criteria. If you think you meet the essential criteria, then read about the organisation on our website and our social media channels to get an understanding of how the role you are going to be applying for fits in to the wider organisation. You might also be able to find useful information on our work that will help you with your application.

Make sure your CV is easy to read and try to keep it to two or three pages maximum. Do not let graphics or unusual fonts distract from the key information that you need to get across. Ensure that your CV gives all the basic employment details including job title, employer, and dates worked from and to. For qualifications, make sure you list the subject(s), final grade, name of the institution and dates that you studied from and to.

We do not need your referee details at this stage. We discourage candidates from attaching profile pictures. We want our shortlisting teams to focus on your qualifications, skills and experience, not on how you look. There is no need to list your gender, marital status or whether you have a driving licence on your CV. Save the space to share more information about your suitability for the role.

As discussed in our guide to using AI responsibly in your ClientEarth job application we are moving away from using cover letters in our application forms. For most of our roles, we now ask you to complete 2 to 3 role specific questions instead. These questions will vary from role to role and will give you a realistic preview of the role you are applying for. While it is acceptable to use AI by suggesting structure and phrasing, your answer must be truthful and must reflect your real-life examples and/or your honest answer to how you would approach a situation.

If we have not asked you for a cover letter in your application form, you do not need to upload one separately. We will discuss your motivations for joining ClientEarth with you during your interview.

For roles where we do still ask you to complete a cover letter, we ask you to not just repeat information that we can find in your CV. Use your cover letter as an opportunity to tell us why you think you are a great fit for the role and what your motivations are. The articles here and here go in to more depth on what to include in a cover letter.

All free text boxes in our application forms have a character limit – you will see this update as you start typing. We recommend drafting your answers in an app/programme that lets you run a word and character count and then copying and pasting the final text into the text box.

For most roles, we run two interview rounds, with the stronger candidates from the first round being invited to the second round. Generally, first round interviews will be online via Teams. Second round interviews may also be on Teams, or potentially face-to-face if logistics allow.

We recommend reading these articles by WikiJob and Indeed on how to prepare for an online interview.
We run all of our interviews in a panel format. If you have not taken part in a panel interview before, we recommend you research how these work. These articles on Monster, Total Jobs, Indeed and The Guardian are all useful.

The panel will be asking you specific questions to explore how your qualifications, experience and/or skills match the person specification. Make sure you revisit the job description ahead of the interview and prepare some examples that address the criteria in the person specification.

We also strongly recommend that you research competency-based interviews ahead of your interview and prepare some sample answers using the STAR technique.

We may use assessments and/or psychometric evaluations to help us decide who to hire. We will provide you with more information if you get to this stage of the recruitment process. We carry out all assessments online. You will need access to a computer with the capability to read and write Microsoft Office documents.

If you are unsuccessful at interview stage, you are entitled to feedback. Even highly qualified and experienced candidates may find that it takes a couple of applications before being offered a role with us, so please do not be discouraged from applying again if you are unsuccessful the first time around. Use your interview experience and the feedback you receive to get a better understanding of your strengths and areas that you can work on improving for next time.

You’ve made it through our recruitment process, and we would like to offer you the job, congratulations! Your Recruiter will give you a call to share the good news with you, and to start discussions on your salary and potential start date. We will then follow up with a formal written conditional offer letter confirming all of the details. Should you accept our job offer we will then commence your pre-employment checks.

The conditions of your job offer will vary with each job but will always include a check to make sure you have the right to work in the country where you are going to be based. We will also always need to obtain satisfactory references that cover the last 3 years, including from your current or most recent employer.

Once all of your checks have come back as satisfactory, we will then issue you with your employment contract and confirm further details for your first day with us.