What it helps with
The example shows how to keep a response focused on the criterion, use a concrete situation and explain what changed because of your action.
Free APS resource
Free worked example of an APS selection criteria response.
Get a worked example showing how a selection criteria response can move from criterion wording to evidence, action and outcome.
- Free Gumroad download
- APS selection criteria
- Worked example format
- PDF two pages
What it is not
It is not a personalised job application, selection criteria writing service or guarantee of interview results.
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Get the free example on GumroadHow an APS selection criteria response is structured
Most Australian Public Service agencies ask for evidence against each criterion, not a description of your duties. A response usually names one specific situation, explains what you did in it, and states what changed as a result.
Two labels are common for that structure. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. SAO stands for Situation, Action, Outcome. They ask for the same evidence, so use whichever one the agency or the job pack names.
| Part | What it covers | Rough share |
|---|---|---|
| Situation | Where you were, your role and the problem or need, in two or three sentences | About 20% |
| Action | What you did, step by step, written as "I" not "we" | About 60% |
| Outcome | What changed, who benefited and what you learned or would repeat | About 20% |
A short example for an APS4 criterion
The free PDF contains a full two-page worked example. This shorter fictional example, for the criterion "Supports productive working relationships", shows the same shape in fewer words.
Supports productive working relationships (APS4)
As an administration officer in a regional service centre, I coordinated bookings between three case teams and a shared interview room. Bookings were being double-entered and two teams had missed client appointments in one month.
I met each team leader separately to understand how they booked the room and why the shared calendar was not being used. I drafted a one-page booking procedure with a single calendar, a naming format and a cut-off time for changes, and asked each team leader to review it before it was circulated. I then ran a ten-minute walkthrough at each team's weekly meeting and stayed available for questions during the first fortnight.
Over the following two months there were no further double bookings, and the team leaders adopted the same calendar format for two other shared resources. I now check the calendar each Friday and raise any clashes with the relevant team leader before they become a problem.
What each paragraph is doing
- Paragraph one sets the situation: the role, the people involved and a specific problem with a consequence. It does not restate the criterion.
- Paragraph two is the action. Every sentence starts with what the writer did, and the steps show listening, drafting, checking and following through, which is what the criterion is about.
- Paragraph three gives the outcome in plain terms, then adds a sentence showing the behaviour continued. Numbers are used only where they would be real.
- The whole response is about 230 words. Many APS4 and APS5 advertisements set limits between 250 and 500 words per criterion, and the advertisement's limit always applies.
Next steps
The free PDF shows a full-length response with the criterion wording, the evidence cues and the annotations side by side. The selection criteria guide covers STAR and SAO in more detail and how expectations change from APS3 to EL1. The APS Job Application Pack includes six annotated criterion responses, three one-page pitches and two statements of claims at APS3/4, APS5/6 and EL1, plus the editable Word templates.
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