How to address key selection criteria

What selection criteria are for

Selection criteria describe what a person needs to do the job well. The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) gives examples such as a demonstrated capacity to communicate effectively, good organisational and administrative skills and a proven ability to work as part of a team. Some roles add essential requirements, such as a qualification, a driver's licence or a Working with Children Check, which you either hold or don't.

Panels use the criteria to compare applicants fairly. Jobs and Skills WA notes that where you're asked for a statement against the criteria, it's often the most important document in the application, with scores sometimes given for each criterion and the highest scoring applicants invited to interview. This is why a strong resume on its own may not be enough to get you shortlisted for a government job.

Which format is the application asking for?

The phrase "addressing selection criteria" now covers several different tasks. Some employers still want a response under each criterion, while others ask for a one or two page statement that shows how you meet them overall. In the NSW public sector, applications are usually built around capabilities and up to two short targeted questions, and the Northern Territory limits applications to a one-page summary and a resume.

This table summarises the current guidance from each government's own careers or public service commission material. Agencies within the same government can still set their own requirements, so treat it as a guide to what you might see.

The job ad and information pack always override general guidance. They'll tell you whether to respond to each criterion, how long your response can be and whether it goes in the cover letter, a separate document or a text box in the online form. If anything is unclear, the contact officer named in the ad can tell you what the panel expects, and asking is a normal part of the process.

How to write a response a panel can assess

A good response shows the panel what you did, not just that you believe you have the skill. Saying you have excellent communication skills gives them nothing to score, while a short account of a situation where you explained a complicated change to upset customers does.

The STAR method is the structure most government guidance suggests. You describe the Situation, the Task you were responsible for, the Action you took and the Result. It helps to spend most of your words on the action, since that's where the panel sees how you work, and to finish with a result that's as concrete as you can honestly make it.

These habits make a response easier to assess:

• Use one or two strong examples. The APSC suggests using only one or two of your strongest examples for each criterion, which leaves room to explain them properly.
• Answer every part of the criterion. A criterion such as "organisational and problem-solving skills" asks for two things, and your example needs to show both.
• Borrow the language of the criterion. If it mentions competing priorities, use those words, so the panel can match your example to what they're scoring.
• Write about your part. Say "I" when describing your actions. "We" makes it hard to tell what you contributed.
• Draw on any relevant experience. The APSC notes that examples can come from work, study or community roles, which helps if you're early in your career or changing fields.
• Keep to the limit. Stick to any word or page limit, since the APSC lists lengthy responses among the things to avoid.

It can also help to pitch your examples at the level of the job. The APSC's Integrated Leadership System describes expected capabilities and behaviours at each APS level, so reading the profile for the level you're applying for can show whether an example suits a team member, a team leader or a manager.

Writing a pitch, summary or short statement

When an APS agency asks for a pitch, the APSC describes it as your chance to explain why you want the job, what you can offer and how your skills and experience apply to it. It suggests highlighting specific examples and achievements without repeating your CV. A Tasmanian short form application has a similar purpose. It's a summary of how your experience, skills and knowledge make you right for the job, in no more than two A4 pages.

The criteria still matter in a pitch, even though you won't answer them one by one. Make a list of the criteria or capabilities from the position description, then choose two or three examples that between them cover the most important ones. A single well-chosen example, such as leading a small project, can often show planning, stakeholder management and problem-solving at once. Write each example as a short STAR paragraph and link it back to the role, so the panel doesn't have to work out the connection.

The ACT Government's guidance sets out the difference in format clearly. Selection criteria responses are written like a formal report, with each criterion numbered and headed in the same order as the position description. A pitch reads more like a letter: it has no headings, combines why you're interested with how you meet the requirements, and uses paragraphs that each relate to one or more of those requirements.

A Northern Territory one-page summary is the tightest version. The Join the Territory guidance asks for examples of previous work against the selection criteria and warns against statements of claim, where you say you can do something without showing it. With only one page, each example has to be short and specific, and your detailed resume carries the rest.

The guide to how long a cover letter should be covers page limits and text boxes in more detail, and writing an expression of interest explains how a pitch works for acting roles and secondments.

Answering NSW targeted questions

NSW public sector role descriptions list focus capabilities drawn from the NSW Public Sector Capability Framework, which has 20 core capabilities across five levels. Each capability comes with behavioural indicators describing what it looks like at the role's level. The NSW guidance for hiring managers suggests building targeted questions from those indicators, such as asking for an example of a time you used data or information to improve a service for customers.

So the best preparation is to read the behavioural indicators for each focus capability before you write. Your example should show at least some of those behaviours, at roughly the same level of responsibility. STAR works well here, and the question itself often prompts you for the situation, what you did and the outcome.

Targeted questions are usually answered in the I work for NSW application form, which sets a word or character limit for each one. Drafting in a document first lets you edit properly and check your length before you paste the answer in. Some agencies also ask a motivation question, such as why you want to work in the NSW public service, which calls for a genuine reason connected to the role more than a STAR example.

The Capability Application Tool gives practice questions based on the focus capabilities, which are useful for interview preparation as well. Interviews for these roles tend to probe the same capabilities, so the examples you write now can form the basis of your answers later, and preparing for an interview covers the next step.

An example response

This example responds to a common organisational criterion in a separate selection criteria document. It follows the STAR structure in four paragraphs and runs to about 230 words, which would suit a response with a limit of half a page or 300 words. The person and details are fictional, so replace them with your own experience. Most of the words go on what the applicant did, and the response ends on a result the panel can weigh.