8 techniques to improve your selection criteria writing

yunxichun

Source: how to address selection criteria
Arthor: Dr Ann D Villiers


1. Avoid unsuppored self-aggarndisements

' I have superior liaison and presentation skills.'
This makes a claim based on personal opinion with no supporting evidence.

Supporting evidence means achievements and examples of experience. You can apporach the criteria by saying
'My superior liasion skills are demonstrated by……‘ and give expamples to illustrate the demands and complexity of the tasks.

2. Watch your verbs

Use direct, active constructions of verbs which indicate exactly what your contribution was, rather  than passive constructions of verbs,

Supposing the selection criteria is
'Ability to communicate with people at all level of seniority.'

A possible response is: 'My position has necessitated the ability to communicate with a broad spectrum of people.'

However, it is not enough. An alternative response might be:
'In my position as receptionist at XYZ Company and Sales Assistant at PQR Ltd, I met, on a daily basis, senior management of those companies, sales represetantives, suppliers from other companies, and members of the general public. Each month the board met and I orgainsed their travel arrangements. Most of the communication was face-to-face and by telephone and I was frequently commended for the professional manner in which I carried out these duties.'

The response specifies the position, and use specific verbs(met, organised) to indicate exactl what was done which would have created a communication situation.

3. Address all parts of the selection criteria

'An organised and high motivated approach to work with the ability to priorities and work under pressure.' (4 parts here)

If you break down each criteria into its parts and address each part convincingly, you should dramatically increase your chances of being short-listed.

4. Use dot points rather tahn text
It helps clarity and makes reading easier. But it doesn't necesarily work for all criteria, nor is it appropriate in all cases.

5.Use English well
Ensure all parts of the application are written clearly, concisely, are grammatically correct, and that spelling is accurate.

6. Support claims with relevant, concrete examples

A good example for ponit5 and 6 might be：‘extensive management experience workingwith IT teams.’
My extensive managment experience is demonstrated by:
* current position as Assistant Manager, Reousrce Management Branch, Department of Public Works, responsible for 85 staff across three sub-programs; reorginsed brach to achieve 10% in annual revenue and cost savings of 5%; completed a major program review on time and within budget with 90% of recommedations adopted by Executive.
* 3 years as Manager, IT Services, Department of Public Works, responsible for a team of 10 staff, including budgeting and business planning, with an anuual turnover of $1.5m.
* 4 yeas as Project Officer, specialised IT Services, Progress Inc., supervising 5 staff developing specialised IT Services and products for small businesses. Budget of 0.75m.

If you haven't a strong case, you can use an example from another context to transfer to this context. Think about your work in terms of how a given experience might be applicable to another situation and what lessons could be learned from it.

You can demonstrate that you learn quickly even thugh you may not be strong on this particular skill or knowledge. Or, you can admit you are not strong in this area and indicate a willingess to grasp the material for particular reasons related to your career development.

7. Be results-oriented

ways to quantify your contribution are:
sales increases, staffing numbers reduced, revenue increases, cost reductions, number of reccommendations adopted, timeframes reduced, successful negotiations completed, productivity increases, annual savings, processes or procedures simplified, gaol achieved for the first time, improvements made, critical problems solved, critical problems solved.

Not all positions lend themselves to this approcah. However you should be able to think of situations where, by your being there, by your suggestions, ideas, approach, a better outcome was achieved.

8. Avoid credibility-reducing words

For example, 'I never miss an opportunity to contribute ideas at meetings.' (other similar word, such as , all, every, always,constantly, continually, totoally, fully, completely)

Such writing ia a variation of self-aggrandisement.Alternatively, you could list the features of your service that reflect the level of quality you aspire to. Obviously, though ,you wold be seeking to achieve these standards all of the time for all customers!

My quality customer service is demonstrated by:
* answering the telephone on the third ring
* responding to written inquireies within seven days
* offering refreshements to customers if they are kept waiting more than 15 minutes
* calling customers to check that their products have been delivered correctly.

free

Thanks for sharing.

大头仔

thanks a  lot

tyhi

写的真好  谢谢分享

yjhuang

谢谢分享

leeroyjenkins

写的真好

terryjim9986

受教了，写得很好，感谢分享

麻辣小龙虾

谢谢分享

ltroad

晚上照着写一个试试