Selection Criteria Examples: What a Strong Response Actually Looks Like

Selection criteria are where a lot of good people quietly fall out of a government or university recruitment process, because their response tells the panel they can instead of showing them they have.

Before I moved into interview coaching, I helped clients write their selection criteria responses as a resume writer, and the same problem came up in almost every first draft. The responses were vague and general. They described the person in broad terms, but they didn't give one specific example that spoke to the criterion they'd been asked to address. Below are six common criteria, with a weak and a strong response to each, and what makes the difference.

First, check what you're actually being asked for

"Address the selection criteria" means different things in different places. Read the "how to apply" section of the job ad before you write a word.

The format changes, but the scoring doesn't. Every one of these is read for evidence: a specific situation, what you did, and what happened as a result.

The structure that works: STAR, kept short

Use STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result), but give the Action most of your words. A rough split for a 250-word response: Situation and Task in 2 sentences, Action in 4 to 6, Result in 1 or 2, with a number if you have one.

Open with a one-line claim that echoes the criterion, then prove it. Panels often score responses side by side, and a clear first line makes yours easy to score.

Example 1: Communication

Criterion: Highly developed written and verbal communication skills.

Weak: "I have excellent communication skills, developed over 10 years in customer-facing roles. I am comfortable communicating with people at all levels and write clear, concise documents."

Why it's weak: every word is a claim and there's nothing to check. "Excellent" without evidence reads as an opinion.

Strong: "I adapt written and verbal communication to the audience and the decision being made. In my role as a team leader in a council rates team, our hardship policy changed with two weeks' notice. I rewrote the 14-page policy as a one-page guide for front-counter staff, ran two 20-minute briefings, and drafted plain-English letter templates for affected ratepayers. The team applied the new policy from day one, and complaints about hardship letters dropped from 11 in the previous quarter to 2."

Why it works: one situation, specific actions across writing and speaking, and a measurable result.

Example 2: Teamwork and collaboration

Criterion: Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively within a team and across organisational boundaries.

Weak: "I am a team player who works well with others and enjoys sharing knowledge."

Strong: "When two teams in our division both owned parts of the same client intake process, applications were sitting for up to 9 days between handovers. I suggested a shared weekly 15-minute check-in, mapped the handover points with both team leaders, and set up a joint tracker so either team could see where a file was. Within six weeks the average wait between teams fell to 2 days, and the tracker is still in use."

Why it works: it shows collaboration across teams, which is what "across organisational boundaries" is asking. Read every word of the criterion; that phrase is where the marks are.

Example 3: Problem-solving and judgement

Criterion: Sound analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to exercise judgement.

Weak: "I enjoy solving problems and always think things through carefully before making a decision."

Strong: "Our monthly reconciliation kept showing a variance of a few hundred dollars that nobody could trace. Rather than adjust it again, I pulled six months of transactions and found the variance always followed public holidays, when one payment file ran a day late. I documented the pattern, proposed a timing adjustment to the finance manager, and wrote a short procedure for holiday months. The variance hasn't reappeared in the 8 months since."

Why it works: the judgement is visible. Choosing to investigate instead of patching it is the point the panel is looking for.

Example 4: Client and stakeholder focus

Criterion: Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with clients and stakeholders.

Weak: "I build strong relationships with stakeholders through open communication and always put the client first."

Strong: "A community group had escalated complaints about our grants process to the Minister's office twice. I was asked to take over the relationship. I met their chair in person, listened to the full history before responding, and agreed a monthly update by phone instead of waiting for formal letters. When their next application was unsuccessful, I called them before the letter went out and explained the assessment. They reapplied the next round with a stronger application and were funded, and there were no further escalations."

Example 5: Organisation and managing competing priorities

Criterion: Demonstrated ability to manage a varied workload and meet deadlines.

Weak: "I am highly organised and use lists and calendars to make sure I meet all deadlines."

Strong: "In my last role I supported three managers, and end of financial year meant 40 contract renewals due in the same five weeks as my usual reporting. I listed every renewal with its expiry date and risk, agreed the order with the three managers in one meeting instead of three, and blocked two mornings a week for renewals only. All 40 were completed before expiry and the monthly reports went out on time."

Example 6: Integrity and compliance

Criterion: Commitment to working within legislative, policy and ethical frameworks.

Weak: "I always follow policy and act with integrity."

Strong: "A senior colleague asked me to backdate a form so a payment could go out before the end of the month. I explained I couldn't change the date because the record would no longer match the audit trail, and offered an alternative: I'd process it as urgent the next morning and email the client myself to explain. My manager supported that approach, and we later added a cut-off reminder to the month-end checklist so the situation didn't come up again."

Why it works: integrity criteria are scored on behaviour under pressure, not on agreeing that rules matter.

These six responses are illustrations written for this guide, not real candidates' answers.

The mistakes panels mark down most

• Claims without evidence. "Excellent", "strong" and "proven" score nothing on their own.
• "We" instead of "I". The panel can't score what your team did, only what you did.
• One example stretched across every criterion. Use a different example for each wherever you can.
• Ignoring the level. An APS 4 response and an EL1 response to the same criterion should read differently. The higher the level, the more the panel wants to see judgement, influence and responsibility for others.
• Going over the limit. Two pages means two pages. A response that ignores the instructions is often the first one removed.
• No result. If you can't measure it, describe what changed: what happened next, who used it, what stopped going wrong.

From the page to the interview

The criteria you write to are usually the ones the panel asks about at interview, often as "Tell us about a time when…" questions. Strong written examples become your interview answers, so pick ones you can talk about for two minutes, including what you'd do differently. My guides to government interview questions and APS interview questions show how the same capabilities come up in the room.

FAQ

How long should a selection criteria response be? Follow the ad. Without a limit, aim for roughly 200–300 words per criterion, or about a page in total for a short statement.

Can I use the same example twice? Only if you have to, and if you do, use a different part of the story for each criterion.

Do I need to address every criterion? If the ad asks you to respond to each one, yes. If it asks for a short statement against the role, choose the criteria where your evidence is strongest. Some ads even say how many to choose.

Should I use AI to write my responses? It can help you structure a first draft, but panels can spot generic phrasing, and check whether the job ad says anything about using AI. The examples have to be yours, because you'll be asked about them at interview.

Write yours, then say them out loud

If you're applying for an APS or Queensland role, the Selection Criteria & Government Applications Workbook (A$55) walks you through one real application from the job ad to the final statement, with feedback on each exercise. And when you're shortlisted, you can practice your examples out loud in a free 3-question mock interview.

I go deeper on topics like this in my monthly newsletter: The Practice Lab Edit.