Addressing Selection Criteria

Addressing Selection Criteria

Career Development Unit – September 2005

Introduction Job applicants often feel overwhelmed when faced with selection criteria. But from an employer’s point of view, they provide an equitable means to measure each job applicant’s suitability to perform the duties of an advertised position. As a consequence your ability to effectively demonstrate your level of competency against each selection criteria is very important. The following book was used as a resource in developing this guide: Villiers, Ann D (2000) How to address selection criteria. 3rd ed. Canberra, dm press.

What are selection criteria? The selection criteria for a position lists the essential and desirable skills, attributes, experience and education which an organisation decides is necessary for a position.

Why are selection criteria used? •

Select the most capable, effective, suitable, experienced, qualified person for the position.

•

Allows applicant to demonstrate ways they will be of value to the position and organisation.

•

Standardise the recruitment process – they provide a guide to employers and recruiters as to essential and desirable requirements to look for in applicants, which can help reduce personal and social bias in selection decisions and to ensure that the most suitable candidate is selected.

Steps to addressing selection criteria This is the most important document in your application. It is used by the selection panel to decide whether to interview you. Preparation of this section of your application is the most time consuming. To prepare it well you need to understand the criteria and use specific techniques to write your statements. Step 1 Create a new document Suggested titles: • Statement Addressing Selection Criteria • Claims to the Selection Criteria Step 2 Use each of the selection criteria as headings Use each of the selection criteria requested as a head. If some criteria are similar, you can combine them but it is important that you list both headings, for example: Well developed communication skills, Superior writing skills. Step 3

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Prove your ability to demonstrate each criterion When addressing selection criteria it is important to ensure that you: • Give a brief overview of how your particular work experience and qualification relate to each criteria • provide evidence to demonstrate the selection criteria rather than stating that you meet the criteria • use your work experience, community work and qualifications to provide evidence against each criterion • focus on results achieved.

Demonstrating selection criteria vs stating selection criteria It is important that we demonstrate the selection criteria. Merely stating the criteria is not sufficient, for example, I have excellent communication skills. You need to substantiate and demonstrate your claims, for example, My interpersonal skills are best demonstrated by …. Exercise Does the following example demonstrate or state the selection criterion:

Selection Criterion: Well developed communication skills Response to selection criterion: I have developed my communication skills in the various roles I have worked. My current position involves liaising with a variety of people in a variety of settings. This includes senior managers, staff at all levels and members of the public both face-to-face and on the phone. Demonstrate

State

Does the following example demonstrate or state the selection criterion:

Selection Criterion: Well developed communication skills Response to selection criterion: I possess well-developed communication skills which I have gained throughout my working career. In particular, in my role as Administration Officer for XYZ, I liaise on a daily basis with senior managers, staff at all levels and members of the public. Communication is via face to face and on the telephone and I am frequently commended for the professional manner in which I carried out these duties. For example, one of my key responsibilities was to implement a new policy within my department. This process required well-developed communication skills to ensure that I acquired an accurate understanding of the policy and clearly communicated this to the client. As a result, …..

Demonstrate

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State

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The first example states rather than demonstrates the selection criteria. The job seeker does not demonstrate what is involved in the selection criteria, nor what they have achieved. The second example clearly demonstrates the criteria by specifically outlining specific actions and the results of those actions.

Understanding key phrases It is important to understand what is being asked for in the selection criteria as there are subtle differences in meaning. For example, the difference between a skill, knowledge or attitude. Skill This refers to your experience or practical application. In your application you need to demonstrate that you have performed tasks or jobs that require the skill.

Selection criterion: Commitment to manage personal workloads and balance competing priorities Addressing the selection criterion In my current position as Field Officer with the Department of Education I am required to work on a variety of tasks and projects. I find that self-management and discipline are critical in grappling with the challenges of large work volumes and strict deadlines. To confront these challenges I have established prioritisation and follow-up systems to ensure I achieve required deadlines. As a result of utilising these skills, I have ……

Knowledge This refers to familiarity gained from actual experience or from learning. It is often used in reference to government policy such as Employment, Equity and Diversity or Occupational Health and Safety.

Selection criterion: Ability to understand Employment Equity and Diversity Addressing the selection criterion I am committed to the principles of EED and believe offensive comments or remarks to others have no place in a professional environment. I would confront those who make them towards other staff. EED can be defined as providing a “fair go” for everyone, and a working environment free of harassment and discrimination.

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Attitude This refers to the suitability for a task, or your way of thinking in relation to a task or role. Selection Criterion: Demonstrated commitment to quality client service Addressing the selection criterion: As a ‘people-person’ I naturally enjoy dealing with people. With good listening and interpretation skills, I am able to assist people with the highest level of service. Additionally, by being empathetic and supportive to problems or requests, I am able to recommend a course of action, or assist in any way I can. Repeat business has been a result of my commitment to providing quality client service.

Qualifiers Often for higher level positions additional qualifiers are used such as well-developed, demonstrated, extensive and high level of. These indicate that criteria must be soundly supported with concrete examples that show breadth and depth of experience and/or capability.

Eight techniques to improve how you write selection criteria 1. Avoid unsupported self-aggrandisement Writing about yourself in glowing terms does not tell the selection panel much. Other than you think highly of yourself. It is important to provide supporting evidence for each claim. This means achievements and examples of experience, concrete information that will convince a selection panel that you do possess the required skill or experience. 2. Watch your verbs In writing to selection criteria it is your verbs which most clearly indicate how closely you meet the criteria and which give strength to your claim and application generally. A key to strengthening a case on each criterion is to use direct, active constructions of verbs, rather than passive constructions of verbs, and to use verbs which indicate exactly what your contribution was. For example: I negotiated … I liaised with… I edited… I provided advice ..

Passive verbs I assisted with … I participated in … I contributed to … I helped …

Specific verbs for addressing selection criteria achieved developed invented administered directed joined adopted distributed increased advised doubled initiated analysed drafted innovated arranged edited invented assessed eliminated joined Career Development Unit - University of Wollongong

programmed promoted quantified ratified sold solved spoke Page 5

budgeted collaborated completed conceived conducted constructed contracted controlled costed created cut delivered designed

engaged established evaluated exhibited expanded formulated generated headed implemented improved increased initiated innovated

judged launched liaised maintained managed measured negotiated operated organised planned prepared presented produced

streamlined succeeded suggested supervised trained transcribes translated tripled uncovered unified widened won wrote

3. Address all parts of the selection criteria Many selection criteria are made up of several parts. For example: • An organised and highly motivated approach to work with the ability to prioritise and work under pressure. This criterion requires you to address four distinct elements: • organised approach • motivated approach • ability to prioritise • ability to work under pressure Each element must be addressed so that the selection panel can judge you as fully meeting the criteria. The other advantage of this approach is that where there are many applicants of comparable standard, an applicant who addresses all the criteria, in full, is more likely to be shortlisted. 4. Incorporate dot points Anything that makes reading your application easier and reaching an assessment as to whether you merit short-listing quicker, will help your cause. Incorporating dot points helps clarify and makes reading easier. However, it is important to maintain a balance, as dot points will not necessarily work for all criteria, nor is it appropriate in all cases. 5. Use English well The written application indicates to the selection panel not only your suitability for the position but also something of your writing ability. You should ensure that all parts of the application are written clearly, concisely, are grammatically correct, and that spelling is accurate. To help achieve this, it is always useful to ask another person who has a good command of English to look over your application. Don’t rely on your computer spellchecker as many mistakes can slip through. This is extremely important as an application with spelling errors, whether ‘typos’ or genuine mistakes, does not give a good impression, particularly if writing skills is one of the selection criteria. Avoid using technical terms, jargon or phrases that are only used by a handful of people, as this will frustrate the reader. Also, by writing in more general business terms you create an impression that you understand more than your particular specialisation. People are Career Development Unit - University of Wollongong

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impressed by applications that express achievements and accountabilities in clear, concise, unambiguous, direct, active terms. Also be careful of repetition in terms of examples used, and words to demonstrate your skills, knowledge and attitudes. 6. Support claims with relevant, concrete examples Nothing makes an application more difficult to assess than one which rambles around vague and irrelevant material. Remember, work experience is not the only place to look for relevant examples, look at your achievements in your education, leisure activities and community work. 7. Be results-oriented It is no longer sufficient to demonstrate a variety of experience or that you work long hours on multiple projects. Future employers want to know what contributions you have made in your career to the organisations for which you have worked. Increasingly, what matters is what impact you have, what difference you make, what results you achieve and what benefits were there. This is particularly so for more senior positions. When responding to selection criteria ask yourself whether the results achieved are important and consider how you can quantify your contribution. Ways to quantify your results include: • cost reductions • number of recommendations implemented • timeframes reduced • successful negotiations completed • productivity increases • processes or procedures simplified • goals achieved • improvements made • critical problems solved. You may also be able to quantify results as an absence of something, for example, breakdowns, disputes, stoppages or complaints. This may be difficult for some criteria. However, you need to think about situations where, by you being there, by your suggestions, ideas, approach, a better outcome was achieved. Looking at your goals and achievements from past Performance Planners may provide you with information you can use. 8. Avoid credibility-reducing words Credibility in a statement against selection criteria is not built by referring to your performance in terms that suggest you are perfect, without exception. For example, words like: all, every, always, never, constantly, continually, totally, fully, completely. • •

I always give my customers courteous service. I never miss an opportunity to contribute ideas at meetings.

Such writing is a variation of self-aggrandisement and implies that you are perfect and perform without exception, all of the time. Most people are not perfect all of the time. It is rare for a person to do a task perfectly 100 percent of the time. Career Development Unit - University of Wollongong

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(Adapted from: Villiers, Ann D (2001) How to address selection criteria. 3rd ed. Australia: DM Press, p. 5466)

Structuring your response to selection criteria A useful method of structuring your response to selection criteria is called the CAR approach. This stands for Challenge/context Action Result/s Challenge/Context – the challenge or context of the situation where you demonstrated the skills, knowledge or attitude. Action – what you did to solve the problem, lead the group, advance the project. Result – what was achieved. Example:

Selection criterion: Strong written skills Addressing the selection criterion: During my career I have been required to write a variety of written documents from major reports to letters, memos and short critiques of various documents. (Challenge/Context) My approach to these varied tasks is to always consider the nature of the audience that the document was being prepared for, what was expected in this style of communication, and what feedback I had received in the past for written tasks. Other areas I consider are the amount of research required and the time frame. (Action) Feedback received from colleagues has always been consistently positive and a number of reports I have written have been forwarded to senior management for approval of the recommendations I have suggested. I have also been requested to prepare more complex reports (including statistical analysis) as a result of my well-developed written skills. (Result)

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Language to describe you The following are words you may consider to describe your skills, attributes and achievements. Words that describe you in a positive way: • self-disciplined • self-reliant • self-confident • diplomatic • discreet • conscientious

• • • • • • •

Words that indicate management potential: • led • • administered • • authorised • • supervised • • leader •

Words that indicate competence: • creative • strength • ability • thoroughly mastered • proficient • results oriented

Words that reflect intelligence: • analytical • logical

tactful persuasive considerate thrive excel keen professional motivated aptitude

coordinated ability successful developed initiative

• • • • • • •

effective capacity adept aptitude performance oriented track record integrity

• • •

perceptive creative ideas lateral thinking

From: The Edge - http://www.uow.edu.au/careers/publications/TheEdge.html pg 19.

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Exercise Review the following response to a selection criterion:

Selection Criterion Demonstrated initiative and excellence in customer service Addressing the selection criterion My skills in customer service are excellent and I have a very good ability to provide quality service to customers. As you will see from my curriculum vitae I have worked on the reception desk in the department’s regional office, answered phone inquiries from a range of people seeking information and sat in on the customer focus groups which provided feedback on our service performance. How you present yourself is important in dealing with a variety of customers, as is being able to answer inquiries quickly and fully. I have at all times received positive comments from customers. My skills and understanding of customer service have been expanded through attending workshops and seminars. I have been able to demonstrate initiative by applying the ideas I gained from these training sessions.

Consider the following: Does this response demonstrate concrete examples to support the criterion? What impression does it provide? Does the response address all areas of the selection criterion? Is the response easy to read, why or why not? Is the response well structured? Has this response provided any evidence of results achieved? Comments: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

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Possible responses: • poor structure • insufficient concrete examples to support criterion demonstrated • reference to information in CV without drawing out evidence • descriptive statement of behaviours (stating) rather than evidence that they have demonstrated these behaviours on the job • not personalised, that is, refers to “How you present yourself” rather than “How I present myself” • ambiguous – “I have at all times received positive comments from customers” - in relation to what specifically? Revised example:

Selection criterion: Demonstrated initiative and excellence in customer service. Addressing the selection criterion: During the last five years I have held positions with primary responsibilities that demanded the provision of excellent customer service. Whilst in these positions I demonstrated excellence in customer service by: being responsive to customers, providing accurate, timely information in a friendly manner remembering the names and personal details of regular customers keeping staff informed of any particularly difficult situations which needed sensitive handling ensuring that records were updated when new information was received listening carefully to distressed customers and ensuring that they received more than just ‘the standard answer’. The quality of my customer service was recognised by the consistent positive feedback customers provided during quarterly customer focus groups, in supportive correspondence received and in the tendency for regular customers to seek my assistance when they called. From my on-the-job experience and professional development programs I have initiated improvements in the quality of service provided. Examples of these improvements are: introduction of a counter numbering system so that inquiries are handled in the correct order introduction of a standard format for answering the telephone so that customers know they have reached the correct location providing all counter staff with business cards so that customers know who they have spoken to and could reach them again if necessary.

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Examples of addressing selection criterion Selection criterion: Demonstrated ability to work well in a team. Addressing the selection criterion: During my past two professional positions I worked as a part of close, interdependent, multi-discipline teams. During this time I developed important skills in teamwork including: the ability to help the team come to a workable decision and implement strategies to achieve decisions, demonstrated by my facilitation of a recent research planning day, resulting in a thorough, innovative team planning report how to communicate openly and productively, specifically able to communicate opposing ideas in a respectful and thought-provoking manner how to leverage diversity and Individual experience to produce creative and successful outcomes for the group motivating and supporting other team members, demonstrated recently on a challenging research case.

Selection criterion: Possession of team leadership skills Addressing the selection criterion: I have had extensive experience leading work, quality and cross-functional teams. As a team leader I have been involved in: • developing unit plans (in conjunction with the team) which are linked to the organisation’s plan • monitoring and reviewing team performance against action plans and making changes when appropriate • providing staff with both positive and constructive feedback on their work performance including helping them identify strengths and development areas • conducting performance appraisals and identifying learning and development options • resolving team conflicts • channelling communication effectively from senior management to the team, from the team to senior management and between teams • following through on staff concerns • motivating team members. In the Leadership Survey for Service Organisations the following statement was made: X’s ability to articulate a strategy for the group, utilise data and encourage knowledge sharing in the organisation is above the benchmark means. This is facilitated by X’s strong communication skills. These results suggest that not only is she a good leader, team player and service professional but that clients are benefiting from the hard work X is devoting to this organisation.

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Selection criterion: Understanding Project Management Addressing the selection criterion: I have worked as a Project Officer at the University of Wollongong since 2002, first with Department XYZ then the Faculty ABC, overseeing a variety of successful web-based and E-learning projects, delivering these within deadline and on budget. I have a thorough understanding of the principles of project management gained through these positions and training with Career Development Unit. These principles are best summarised as Initiation (Project purpose and key stakeholders), Planning (resources and time-frame), Implementation (communication, monitoring and reportage), Completion (public launch or integration with organisational practice), and Evaluation (does the project achieve its goals). In managing projects I demonstrate a confident application of the above principles through clear communication with stakeholders, identification of measurable outcomes, development of project milestones, assessing and allocating resources, regular and accurate reportage, applying risk management and quality assurance procedures.

Selection Criterion: Demonstrated Organisational and Time Management skills Addressing the selection criterion: As a project officer I have routinely worked on 8-10 projects at a time. These were regularly delivered on deadline or earlier, save where the timeline was renegotiated by the Dean or Faculty Manager when the project parameters changed midstream. To achieve this I: • make detailed project plans initially to limit surprises. • set up periodic meetings with all principles. • identify other areas of University or outside institutions that might be involved and contact them early. • use four concurrent methods of monitoring project progress. These are white board for big picture; GANT chart for milestones; log of all important emails to recall project details and needs quickly; hardcopy notebook with reminder dates and milestones keyed out of context with the project. • factor in extra time to deal with unforeseen emergencies. • report regularly.

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Exercise Write a response to one of the following selection criteria: Self motivated Ability to work independently as well as in a team environment Excellent communication & people skills Motivated, enthusiastic team player Attention to detail Ability to solve problems and find solutions Strong time management skills Good organisational skills Demonstrate confidentiality Ability to meet tight deadlines Customer service focussed

Excellent negotiation skills Keen to work in a company where there is continuous learning Multi-talented and able to handle numerous tasks at once Proven report writing skills Superior writing skills Ability to communicate with people at all levels Ability to operate in a dynamic and changing environment Ability to think laterally

Remember the CAR approach: • Challenge/Context • Action • Result Selection criterion: _______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Addressing the selection criterion: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________

Cover letters Always send a cover letter whether you are applying for a job via the post or email. A cover letter shows good manners and states your intentions for applying for a job and confirms the job title and reference number. What does a cover letter do? A cover letter: • begins a relationship; a hand-shake leading to a fruitful encounter • a cover letter reinforces your interest in a particular position and notes the position reference number so that all information for that job is kept together • refers to the key elements that the employer is requesting and then aligns that wish list with a real world set of skills that shows the employer you are the right person for the job • summarises a few key points in the resume that reinforces something the reader may miss when scanning • asks for a call to action - I want an interview, you can contact me here. • thanks the recruiters for considering you application.

By neglecting to send a cover letter, you are ignoring a critical aspect of the job hunt. You are failing to personalise your application; failing to start a relationship with the recruiter or HR person in charge of the search. You are forwarding an email or clicking on a submit button and not even acknowledging that a human exists behind it negating their value in the process.

Useful resources Villiers, Ann D (2001) How to address selection criteria. 3rd ed. Australia: DM Press (available from the career Development Unit) The Edge - http://www.uow.edu.au/careers/publications/TheEdge.html

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