How to make a good staff application

[Clarksp 23]

I have been looking over a lot of the staff applications being submitted and I can't help but cringe at some of them. Throughout my 2,000 hours on GMOD and my 2,000 hours on Rust, I have made a lot of staff applications for various servers. I have been a staff member 3 times on the Garnet Gaming DarkRP server and have made about 5 applications for this server alone. After having my many applications both accepted and denied on many different servers, I have learned what most staff teams want to see while looking over staff applications. So in an attempt to raise the standard of staff applications, I thought I would make a list of the do's and don'ts of making a staff application.

 

1. Honesty

It is very important to be honest in your staff application. Most staff teams will instantly deny an application if they find out you have been lying in it. This goes for your playtime on the server, your referrals, your previous punishments, and your previous staffing experience.  The staff have certain requirement for a reason.  By asking for your playtime on the server, they are finding out how familiar you are with their community. This also gives them a taste of how well you know the rules. Do not lie about your previous punishments either. It is very easy for staff members to check and see if you have a clean record or not. Don't set your reputation as a liar, that will only hurt you. Finally, do not make up fake previous experience. Most staff teams I have experienced on Garry's Mod have been happy to let people with little to no staffing experience onto their staffing team, as long as you are willing and ready to learn. A lot of the higher ranking staff members know people from other servers. With that being said, it isn't hard for them to find out if you were actually a staff member on that server. Don't lie in your application.

 

2. Grammar + Effort

It is extremely easy for a staff member to see how much effort you put into making your staff application within 10 seconds of clicking on it. The staff members want to see effort put into your application. This includes detailed responses and the USE OF GRAMMAR. There is nothing more cringe-worthy and irritating than an application full of misspelled words and improper grammar. Capitalize your letters when it is necessary, use the correct punctuation, and use complete sentences.  Don't be afraid to spend an extra day or two reading over your application and making edits to it.  If you get denied, do not just copy and paste your application the next time you apply. You should always improve and change your application somehow when you are reapplying.

 

3. Answering the dreaded question "Why should we choose you over other applicants"

It is important to listen to the prompt and actually type two paragraphs. Almost every single staff member will pay attention to this and call you out for not doing it. Save yourself the trouble of having to go and edit it on the fly when you can just do it right the first time. This next tip is extremely important, pay attention. Do not just go and write the same thing everyone else does about how you are going to catch and punish all the trolls and hackers. This is the most boring and generic answer you can give and it does not make you stand out in any way. Of course you will be punishing trolls and hackers, that's your main task as a staff member. We want to see how your personal experiences, both in-game and IRL, will help you be a better staff member than Joe over there who just wrote about how he wants to ban trolls. What personality traits do you have that you think would make you a great addition to the staff team? How did you obtain these qualities? Are you in any clubs, outside activities, or jobs that teach you anything that could better you as a staff member? These are the types of things you should be writing to answer this question, not how you want to rid the server of trolls. 

 

4. Use of colors

I have seen applicants that thought it was a good idea to use brightly colored text in their applications. 9/10 of these have resulted in getting -1's solely for this reason alone. If you want to stay on the safe side, just use the default color.

 

5. Be active in the community.

This goes for both in-game and on the forums. Staff members want to know who you are before seeing your name for the first time in a staff application. By being active in the community, you are bound to run into many of the staff members of that server which could ultimately result in you getting a referral to put onto your application. Don't just play on the server for 72 hours and then instantly make a staff application because you have met the time requirement. Get to know the community. This goes for the forums too. By being active on the forums before you even make a staff application, you are immersing yourself even further into the community which will only help you (unless you are constantly toxic, don't do that!).

 

6. Accept criticism 

This is a mistake I made on my first few applications. After receiving a negative rating on my application, I felt the need to defend myself and tell that person that they are wrong. Don't do that. Read over that person's comment and reflect on it. Use their advice to further improve your application. That person must have done something right because they are on the staff team, so use their advice. 

 

7. Patience

After submitting your application, just wait. Under no circumstances should you ask anyone to look at your application. This will result in your application getting instantly denied. Give the staff team time to read it on their own.

 

8. Keep it professional

Think of the staff application as an actual job resume. Would you swear or criticize other people in a job resume? No. So don't do it in your staff application. This will only make you look immature and unfit for the staff team. Being immature is a -1 magnet. 

 

9. Persistence 

Don't give up after being denied once. Read over the feedback you received and try and improve yourself for next time. By doing this, you are showing the staff team that you are willing to adapt yourself and keep trying. Determination and persistence are both great qualities to have as a staff member.

 

Some of these tips may be very obvious to some, but trust me, there are applicants that need it. If you have any other tips that may help future applicants, feel free to add them below. Enjoy.

[huskaii 586]

+1 great application add me to referrals

[Sc0pe 50]

6 minutes ago, huskaii said:

+1 great application add me to referrals

this isn’t a staff application.

[eli_ 641]

53 minutes ago, Sc0pe said:

this isn’t a staff application.

Bro he was joking...

[Fetn 1,217]

I mean I agree with a lot of this stuff here but I doubt people will even do half of these things mate. But it is a great idea to make this since some people will read through this and find help in this.

[Shin_Tsukimi 2,246]

Here's a tip: Read old staff applications, both denied and accepted. You can learn things from each.
I am not telling you to copy them.

I'm saying try to learn how to use them to your advantage, like use certain things.

Example A: A Accepted application might show that getting to know staff members/members of the community would help greatly.
Example B: A Denied could be checked to see if your going the same route as them in some of their paragraphs, or you could just learn from their mistakes in general.