Applying for a job in the Australian Public Service can be a little daunting, so applying for one of the rare and coveted Graduate Program spots must be utterly terrifying.

There are so many hoops to jump through as an applicant – forms to fill in, boxes to tick, selection criteria to respond to and academic transcripts to upload.  And that’s before you even have an interview!

I work as a scribe, and it is my job to record the interview and the discussion that comes afterwards so that everyone can be assured that all the hoops are jumped through and all the boxes ticked.  It is quite a privilege, to be part of that process, and I am frequently in awe of the young people who sit at the other end of the table from me.  A few years ago I had the honour of sitting quietly at the far end of the table, taking notes, as dozens and dozens of brave, ambitious, incredibly intelligent soon-to-be university graduates were interviewed for a Grad role.   There were some seriously impressive candidates.  And although it doesn’t go perfectly for everybody, there are things you can do to improve your odds considerably.

The advantage of having a clearly defined process to follow is that you know exactly what the selection committee requires.  The Australian Public Service Commission website has a very handy guide to applying for roles in the APS – it’s called ‘Cracking The Code.’  This guide is particularly useful for people who are out of practice when it comes to applying for a job; there is advice for responding to selection criteria, and some information on how the interview will be conducted.  There is an entire Fact Sheet explaining what the ‘selection criteria’ is and how you can respond to it:

The duty statement or role description will help you understand the responsibilities and tasks required in the job. The selection criteria describes the personal qualities, skills, abilities, knowledge and qualifications (if any) a person needs to perform the role effectively.

The most important thing to remember when responding to each criterion (in your written application and during the interview) is to make sure you demonstrate your skills and abilities, not just claim to have them.  It isn’t enough to say that you have really good oral and written communication skills—you have to prove it.

Perhaps you can tell them about that internship you did at the law firm over the summer holidays, where your supervisor asked you to read through the Family Law Council’s latest report, summarise it in a one page memo and give a five minute presentation on it to the partners at the next morning meeting.  Remember to tell them that your supervisor was really happy with the memo, and the partners all thanked you personally for your insights.  And there it is – proof that you have great communication skills.

Not everyone has a summer internship at a law firm to talk about, and so the challenge is to find other examples from your life that can demonstrate your skills.  Remember, though, it’s not just the ability to summarise some obscure legal document that the selection panel is interested in.  Graduate recruitment is all about finding the applicants with the best potential to do well in the long term.

The panel is looking for evidence of your ability to think through a problem in logical steps, or to look for an outside-the-box solution when the obvious ones don’t work.  They are trying to find out if you are the sort of person who will work well in a team or on your own.  If you are likely to consult with your colleagues or go it alone.  If you can handle conflicting priorities in a dynamic, high pressure environment.  You might not have a summer internship to talk about, but if you spend some time thinking about the criteria you should be able to come up with some convincing examples.  And if you can’t, then you have to treat it like a hypothetical.  If the selection panel want to know how you would respond in a particular situation, and you have no experience that even comes close to that kind of scenario, it’s time to start imagining and describing what you would do. “I haven’t yet had an opportunity in my career to deal with that kind of dilemma, but if I ever had to I would most likely try…”

Point is, have some answers ready to go.  Jot some prompts down on a piece of paper and take it to the interview (it’s perfectly acceptable to do this).  Take your time, listen carefully to the question and be sure of what they are asking.  Pause before answering, speak clearly and slowly, glance at your notes or ask for clarification if you get stuck.  Prepare well, and you will be far less nervous on the day and far more able to leap through all the big hoops in a single bound.