Addressing Selection Criteria

One of the key mistakes job applicants make is not addressing the selection criteria within job applications. From an employer’s perspective, if they have a large number of applications they do not want to read through pages of text to find out if you match their requirements. The challenge is how do you address the selection requirements in a targeted way especially within the resume?

Have a look at the following job advertisement and in particular, the key selection criteria for the job.

How would you address the key selection criteria in this job in your application?

There are two approaches:

  1. A concise and targeted skills section in your resume, OR
  2. A separate document (or cover letter) addressing each selection criterion
How do you decide which one to choose?
  • Choose the first approach if you are not instructed to do otherwise.
  • Choose the second approach if you are instructed to individually list and address the criteria in a separate attachment.  This approach is common practice for most public sector job applications including federal, state and local government, teaching, psychology, social sciences and nursing positions. You should provide at least one paragraph in response to each criterion. Outline how your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills demonstrate your suitability for the job. Provide examples of when and where you have applied these skills.
How do you write a separate document addressing each selection criteria?
  • Create a new document (separate to your resume). Put the job title as the heading. Underneath put the subheading “Key Selection Criteria”
  • List the key selection criteria in the order that they appear in the job advertisement. (Usually the most important selection criteria are listed first, the least important last). Make the selection criteria bold to create a heading.
  • Try and list four to five examples under each skills heading
  • Use bulleted statements where appropriate rather than long sentences and paragraph
  • Back up your claims with evidence. For example, rather than saying "I'm a good team player" it can be more effective to say "As part of a multi-disciplinary team, I negotiated the scope and requirements of our project with the Human Resource Manager at Bosch".
  • Try not to repeat the exact words used in the selection criteria in your responses. Use a Roget's Thesaurus or the verb list to locate similar words.
  • Each statement should provide an employer with a “snapshot” of your experiences relevant to the position. It is one way of giving the employer insight into your personality and explaining your experiences.

Download an example of a separate selection skills document:

How do you write a concise and targeted skills section in your resume?

Here are some tips;

  • If an employer is looking for someone who demonstrates strong interpersonal, communication and analytical skills then your skills headings should be “Interpersonal”, “Communication” and “Analytical”.
  • Try and list four to five examples under each skills heading 
  • Use bulleted statements where appropriate rather than long sentences and paragraphs.
  • List the most relevant skills first.
  • Back up your claims with evidence. For example, rather than saying “I have good interpersonal skills”, another option could be “As part of a multi-disciplinary team I negotiated the scope and requirements of our project with senior management”
  • Each statement should provide an employer with a “snapshot” of your experiences relevant to the position. It is one way of giving the employer insight into your personality and explaining your experiences.

Download an example of selection criteria being addressed in a skills section of a resume.

What happens if you feel you can’t address one or more of the selection criteria? Does this mean you can’t apply for the job?

There are a few ways to tackle this. Group the criteria you feel you don’t fully address together. So if the job asks for “Communication”, “Interpersonal” and “Analytical” skills and you feel that you lack analytical skills, you could group these skills together and talk about your experiences as a whole.

For example:

SKILLS
Interpersonal and Analytical
  • Coordinated 10 volunteer staff to promote a skin cancer awareness campaign to 100 children in 2 Life Saving clubs.
  • Designed 2 activities and exercises for the children to complete during the skin cancer awareness campaign

Consider whether the criterion is critical to the job or just important. If it is listed first or near the top of the selection criteria or if it is a large component of the job, then it is usually more critical. In cases where specific or technical skills are asked for, it is probably best not to apply if you don’t have the direct technical skills. However, in cases where the skills are not important then you should consider applying.

One of the reasons some people are promoted more often than others is because they apply for more jobs, including jobs where they don’t necessarily fulfill all the selection criteria to do the job. However, putting in an application and describing related or transferable skills often means they are selected because they're the best applicant who applied. You might find that while you may not fulfill all the selection criteria, for all sorts of reasons you might be the best person for the job. It is always worth putting your application in. There are times where you may be unsuccessful in this job, but the employer may offer you another job in the organisation.

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