If you’re thinking about submitting an entry for the Brilliant Women in Digital Health Awards but aren’t sure where to start, we’ve got you covered! Writing an award entry doesn’t need to be daunting or time consuming – with some simple planning you will be well on your way to creating a nomination that you can be proud of.
Plus, by completing the exercise of actually writing the award entry, you will be implementing an important and effective piece of work towards your own career development, allowing you to reflect on the impact you have made within the industry and to consider setting some new goals for what is next.
Here are our top tips:
1. Allow enough time – There is nothing worse than leaving it all until the night before the deadline to hastily pull your entry together. So, make a note of the deadline and plan your time accordingly so that you are not creating stress for yourself by doing this in a rush and are committing the time it deserves. Book out some time in your calendar just as you would for any other appointment or meeting, and allowing for time to make revisions too.
2. Understand the judging criteria – Before writing a single word, take the time to read through and thoroughly understand the criteria on how your entry will be judged. Then start by making notes to ensure your response answers the question and provides examples to demonstrate this further.
3. It’s all in the detail – Now you have some notes, it’s time to bring the entry to life and provide more detail (within the word limit). Consider how you can illustrate your responses; for example, can you supply quotes from colleagues or stakeholders? Do you have some examples or cases studies that you can attach to support your entry? And do you have any metrics or data which can help to prove or explain the impact the person you are submitting the entry for has made?
4. Feedback – Before pressing ‘submit’, share your draft entry responses with a few close friends/family/colleagues and ask them to provide honest feedback. Ask them to read it from the perspective of one of the judges who knows nothing about the person you’re submitting an entry for and has no context. Does everything make sense, or does anything need simplifying or clarifying?
5. Check – Once you have reviewed the feedback, made revisions and are happy with your entry there is one final step – proof read. Ask a friend/colleague with great attention to detail to proof-read your entry to check for spelling or grammatical errors.
6. Submit – Now, press submit! Once submitted, keep a copy of your nomination entry as this will be useful for future reference and for using as a base for future award entries. The process of completing the entry will allow you to reflect on the hard work and the achievements you, or the person you are submitting an award for, have made, so regardless of outcome you should feel proud at what you have achieved!
We are so pleased that you are considering entering the Brilliant Women in Digital Health Awards and wish you every success with your entry! And remember, whether you are successful or not, you can be sure that this is a valuable exercise which will contribute towards your wider self-development.
For any questions regarding the Brilliant Women in Digital Health Awards please email bcwdigitalhealth@health.telstra.com