Six Tips for Writing Winning Selection Criteria

Scared about writing your selection criteria? You aren't alone!

Writing this part of the application can be a challenging hurdle for many job seekers. Here are our top six tips for writing winning selection criteria statements.

1. Be prepared. Google the company to find out more about what they value; use keywords and phrases from their documents when writing your statement.
2. Be specific. Rather than say 'I worked in a team' articulate exactly what you achieved. 'I headed up and motivated a team of eight to achieve all key performance indicators at a high level; I grew the company's profit by 12% over two years thanks to my focus on team cohesion and support.'
3. Be succinct. An approximate guide to length is half a page for each criterion. For more professional or managerial roles you could stretch this to a page. Remember that the people reading your criteria are probably reading at least 50 others. Make it simple and effective.
4. Be bold. Don't say 'I was required to head up a team of eight'. Say - 'I headed up a team of eight'. Don't say "I believe I am a great team player'. Say - 'I operate exceptionally well within a team.' Sell yourself.
5. Be a STAR. Use the STAR model as a guide when writing your responses:
- Situation - give context about the situation you were in
- Task - what did you need to do in this situation? What was your role or responsibility?
- Action - what did you do? How did you resolve the situation?
- Result - what was the positive outcome?
6. Be accurate. Proofread. Get someone to read your document, or use Grammarly.

If you still feel overwhelmed, Shine Writing can help you create or polish your statement of claims against selection criteria. Email us at belynda.smith@gmail.com and we'd love to help.