A larger number of clients make contact with me once they have had a look at the position description provided when considering applying for a government position.

I have noticed also, since the media onslaught of “mass sackings” and “lack of job security” that there has been a marked move from the private to public sector.  It seems candidates believe that in today’s employment market here in Australia (and across the globe for that matter) a move to the government sector is a safe bet.

But this proposed job security comes at a price.  That price is preparing selection criteria.  These can send a large percentage of the population into a panic.  This panic seems to stem from two sources:

• The complex language, jargon and sheer length of the position description;
• Lack of experience and expertise in addressing selection criteria.

After reading various online forums in this regard, it seems there a number of people out there who consider that having a professional writer prepare your selection criteria is not possible.  Even more startling to me is the lack of information out there in regards to the government selection process.  I’m unsure as to where their expertise is based, but I can only surmise that these comments are based on most people’s reaction; in the absence of information, a vacuum is formed, and into that vacuum go people’s own invention.

Just to clarify the matter here are some points in regard to selection criteria.  These are the most frequently asked questions put to me by clients, and potential clients, and the associated answers.  Please note that my answers and advice are based on 11 years of experience in writing selection criteria, as well as government tenders and contract.  In fact, in the last month alone I have written two tenders for two business clients, both of whom were awarded contacts.  One client was offered four contracts with a value of an extra $150,000!  This information is provided not to “blow my own trumpet” rather to establish the fact that I do know what I am talking about based on results.  I have lost count of the number of clients that I have secured job interviews for government based interviews based on my writing efforts.  Those that excelled in the job interview process ultimately secured the role.

Here are the questions and my answers:

1.     Do I really have to provide situational examples for each criterion?  How old should these examples be?

Answer: Yes, Yes, and Yes.  If you do your research on the web, including a good one created by the Australian Public Service Commission, you will see that these are a necessity rather than a luxury.  You need to talk about a situation or challenge, and the result of your actions.  More particularly, if the criterion is asking you to meet a criterion about your prioritisation and organisational abilities, you might for example, talk about a time when you were experiencing heavy demands on your time at work, the context of the actual situation, what you did specifically to resolve the situation, and then the result.  In this way you make it easy for the selection criteria to assess your application.  Assuming that the selection criteria panel will glean this information from your resume is a one way ticket to the waste paper basket, and often means your application will not be considered as highly as others that do address the criterion with evidence based answers.  I usually recommend describing situations from no longer than say three years ago, to keep them relevant.  One client asked me to write an application for him, and his examples were twenty years old!  Needless to say, I recommended he wait until a more suitable position present itself.

2.     Do the situations that I use as evidence within my criterion need to be from a position I held which is closely related to the position advertised?

Not necessarily.  For example one of my clients was the manager of a child care centre, and was applying for a position with the National Archives.  However, she still met the criterion, including having worked with voluminous amounts of confidential records.  Basically, as long as you can address the criterion all is well.  Keep in mind however that other applicants may have a background more relevant to the advertised position, and if they submit a well written selection criteria application this may mean they are considered more highly.

3.      How long should my answers be?

A contentious issue.  I usually recommend half a page to a page in length.  However, often the government department will stipulate the length with a word limit listed within the position description document itself.  However, if in doubt it is always safer to establish contact with the relevant contact person listed within the position description itself.

Apply these tips and recommendations to your application and you should be well on the way to preparing a well written selection criteria document.

All the best in your job search journey!

Andrea Drew formed Impressive Resumes in 1998 and the business has grown steadily over the last 10 years. It is an enjoyment of the English language, and a lifetime passion for writing, which she brings to the company, in the preparation and writing of resumes. In her spare time (between midnight and 7am) she has started writing her latest book/how to guide – “So, you think you can write?” stay tuned for further details With a background in Human Resources and Recruitment, Andrea has worked in helping people with jobs since 1992. Her roles included: culling CV’s, arranging interviews, assessing resumes; writing marketing material; writing tenders; editing, proofreading and rewriting large documents. Andrea delivers resume workshops at Victorian Eastern Regional libraries and is a member of Career Directors International and the Association of Online Resume and Career Professionals. For more information go to http://www.impressiveresumes.com.au

As a human resources specialist for many years, I’ve seen it all when it comes to job applications. Most disheartening were those applications in which applicants had not addressed the specified selection criteria … they went straight into the ‘no’ pile. In many cases, it was obvious from accompanying documents like the cover letter and resume, that the applicants were intelligent, experienced people who may have been good hires. However, as they hadn’t addressed the selection criteria, they had disqualified themselves from further processing. In fact, an applicant has only to miss one selection criterion to be disqualified from a recruitment process.

When an application arrived well before the vacancy closing date and it was clear that it didn’t address the selection criteria, I would always write to the applicants asking them to rewrite their applications and resubmit. I attached a short brochure advising them how to go about it. Some resubmitted, most didn’t.

Why Have Selection Criteria?

All job selection techniques ultimately follow the same premise: that if you did something well previously for an employer, you will most likely be able to do it again for another employer. Organisations that use selection criteria use them to focus the knowledge, skills and attitudes applicants posess, to those required to successfully carry out a job. Take for example, a selection criterion, ‘Demonstrated ability to use the Microsoft Office suite of software programs’. Applicants would demonstrate such ability either by giving details of a course of study they had completed that covered all MS Office programs or describing where and when they had used the programs and what they did (or a combination of both). If they had used only a few of the MS Office programs, then perhaps they wouldn’t meet the criterion.

The Challenges of Responding to Selection Criteria

The criterion above is nebulous because it doesn’t say to what extent you have to ‘use’ the software. Does it mean you’ve loaded it a few times and created a small spreadsheet, document, project outline, email, or slide show? Or does it mean that you must have mastered each program at an advanced level? In trying to create a criterion that is objective, the writer has in fact created subjectivity ie, the degree to which use is expected/required.

This highlights the first challenge of selection criteria; determining what the writer intended. Unfortunately, not all criteria writers are good at English expression. The solution is to try to ‘over qualify’ the selection criterion. In the above example, what you would do is provide examples of the type of use to which you put MS Office programs, which programs they were, and what the outcome was eg, ‘I produced a spreadsheet to calculate break-even point which used seven different formulae including sum, average,’ etc. Does this make sense?

If other applicants simply state that they use MS Office, your response has to be better because the degree of use is evident. An applicant showing a higher degree of use should beat an applicant showing a lesser degree of use, but it doesn’t say that in the criterion.

Another challenge is actually meeting selection criteria. Say the above example said, ‘Demonstrated ability to use the MS Office Suite of software programs in an accounting office. What difference do you think that would make? Heaps. It would automatically disqualify any applicant who hadn’t used the software in an accounting office. (But that’s not a good reason to chuck in the towel).

When you analyse selection criteria you need to know that you can not only meet all criteria, but each element within every criterion. If you miss one element within any criterion or all the elements of any criteria, you’re in trouble. This means that you must carefully analyse every criterion to determine how many elements it contains and respond to each element. In our previous example, we know that MS Office Suite consists of MS Word, MS Excel, MS Outlook, MS Powerpoint etc. If you miss one of those programs, you haven’t met the criterion.

Knowing when to stop writing is a good thing. Once you have written sufficient to meet the criterion, you need to stop. Giving 23 examples of how you used MS Office is superfluous and will drive the assessor nuts.

Try to intuit (guess) what criteria really want you to do and frame your answer accordingly. For example, if you were answering the above criterion for a reception job at an accounting firm, ask yourself what types of things you’d be doing. I would expect a receptionist to perhaps use email a lot, produce letters, maybe run an address book or appointments calendars. In your reply highlight the topics you feel are most related to the job. But don’t lose sight of the other elements either … remember you must address all of the criterion.

Responding to the Challenges

You can improve your responses by studying some of the written materials available that address selection criteria. Discover the secrets for yourself and practise improving your responses every time you apply. Ask those who are successful job applicants if you can read their response to see if there is anything you can learn from it. Find someone in your group of friends or colleagues who you know is excellent with the written language and ask him or her to help you by proofreading your applications.

At the end of the day, writing selection criteria isn’t rocket science. Like anything else, you can learn how to do it and master the art within a fairly short time. If you are spending time writing job applications addressing selection criteria and aren’t getting interviews, you need to ask whether you are doing the best job possible. If not, make a conscious effort to get your act together.

Copyright Robin Henry 2005

One way to address the Criteria is by using the STAR Method (Situation-Task-Action-Results)

Situation
What was the situation? This is a brief outline of the situation faced and your role.

Task
What were the main issues involve with the situation?
What needed to be done?
What task/s needed to be achieved and what was the desired outcome?
What obstacles had to be overcome?

Action
What were the steps you took to complete the task?
This will include allocation of resources, people involved etc.

Results
What was the outcome?
How did it change things at work?
What lessons did you learn from this event?

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Using STAR for interviews

A GUIDE ON ADDRESSING SELECTION CRITERIA FOR APPLICANTS – This is a great article form the Australian Government Bureau Of Meteorology which touches base on the STAR method as well as offering some valuable tips for Selection Criteria.