When you apply for an advertised job, you will need to respond in writing to a set of formal statements. Employers may call these:

• job specifications
• person specifications
• selection criteria, or
• a combination of all of these.

Attach your response to your resumé and letter of application.  

What do employers ask for? 

Employers may need someone who has a specific set of skills, experience or attributes to do a job. They will list these as criteria or specifications.

Some common examples include:

• able to communicate effectively
• good organisational skills
• proven ability to work as part of a team
• good customer service skills
• can follow instructions and show initiative.

Job and person specifications or selection criteria tell you what kind of person the employer needs.

You can ask for a copy of these specifications or criteria from the employer by telephone, by email. You may also be able to download a copy from the organisation’s website.  

Responding to job and person specifications 

You need to demonstrate that you have what an employer is looking for. You can do this by responding to each of the employer’s specifications or criteria in your application.

Use these steps to prove you are the best person for the job:

• Step 1 - Read the job and person specifications carefully.
• Step 2 - Focus on key words.
• Step 3 - Use a model like S.A.O.
• Step 4 - Write clearly and correctly.
• Step 5 - Check your response length.  

Step 1 - Read the job and person specifications carefully 

It is important that you read the job and person specifications carefully before you apply for a job vacancy. Always give real and current examples of your skills and experience when addressing selection criteria.

Job and person specifications may include essential and desirable selection criteria. Essential selection criteria refer to the skills you must have to do the job. Desirable selection criteria refer to the skills it would be good to have for the job.

For example, the selection criteria may ask for excellent written and verbal communication skills. Responses could be:

I have held a customer service position with a major retailer and managed the Returns Desk, applied the returns policy to all telephone enquires and completed the Returns Policy Form for each customer item.

While at school l spoke clearly to small and large audiences, and was on the school debating team for two years. I also achieved high averages in written assignments for all my subjects.  

Step 2 - Focus on key words 

Spend time developing a list of examples for key words from the selection criteria or specifications. Use examples that show how you have applied these criteria to your work or life experiences.

Some key words to consider are:

• ability, which means you can do it or are willing to learn.
• demonstrate, which means you can show you can do a task and refer to specific examples.
• initiate, which means you can start a new task and follow it through.
• team work, which refers to how well you can work with others.

For example, the selection criterion or specification may ask for ability to work independently and as a part of a team.

Responses could be:

Along with a group of young people, I volunteer twice a week at an aged care centre. I demonstrate good team work by work out with the group who is going to visit which resident. We've been doing this for 3 months and we get good feedback from the people we visit.

I was a member of a team of 6 volunteers. Together we raised over $2000 for charity by running a quiz night. We worked together over six weeks on the organization and on the night we all had different roles. I had the ability to work with 5 others and also to work independently in my role.  

Step 3 - Use a model like S.A.O. 

You can respond to selection criteria or specifications by using a technique referred to as S.A.O.

S.A.O. stands for:

• Situation Where and when did you do the task?
• Action What did you do? How did you do it?
• Outcome What was the result of your action?

For example, the selection criteria may ask you to:

• Demonstrate problem solving skills.

Your response might be:

In my recent position as a Food and Domestic Assistant at Happy Valley Day Centre, l assisted the Domestic Manger develop a new alternative food menu plan for the elderly residents.

It had come to my attention that a number of residents were not receiving alternative meals in the evening because they were unaware of how to request a food change. Therefore, some were not eating their evening meal. I suggested that I could design a simple tick the box menu plan that the domestic staff could complete after the main lunch meal for all the residents.

The system was introduced and all residents are now receiving their alternative evening meals.  

Step 4 - Write clearly and correctly 

The way you write shows the employer some of your skills. They want to see that you are accurate and can get to the point. You can use some dot points to make your response easy to read.

To create a good first impression:

• address all the criteria or job and person specifications.
• use the SAO technique to give clear examples of your work and / or life experience that support your claims.
• focus on outcomes you have achieved and match these to the selection criteria.
• if you do not have one of the skills or the experience, mention how you would gain it.
• use action (doing) words to describe your experiences.
• check for spelling and grammar errors. Don't rely totally on the spell checker on your computer.
• have someone else check your application for spelling, punctuation, and layout and to ensure that you have addressed the job and person specifications.
• be ready in your interview to provide more details about your examples.  

Step 5 - Check your response length 

Address each selection criterion or specification separately. If a word limit is indicated, aim to meet the limit. Some criteria can be addressed in one or two sentences others will take a paragraph. Attach your selection criteria response as a separate item to your résumé and letter of application.