This week I’ve helped three people write selection criteria for three very different roles – deputy principal, finance officer and office administrator. I’m often asked about “which approach” should be used and people rattle off acronyms like SAO, STAR, CAR, PAR and SAR. These acronyms are useful and important for helping to focus your responses – but they are not the be all and end all of successful selection criteria.
The key to addressing selection criteria is to provide an evidence-based response to each of the identified key selection criteria. Although it is evident to you that you possess the relevant skills and knowledge for the role, you need to convince panel members that you actually possess them and that’s where all these confusing acronyms come into it. It is vital you avoid writing statements that claim you meet the selection criteria, without providing any evidence. However, you can write your selection criteria in a fluid narrative that does NOT sound like a jittery series of STAR dot points – there is a middle ground that I can help you with. This is where a professional resume writer can help you to shine.
STAR is an acronym that stands for:-
Situation: Set the scene and give the necessary details of your example.
Task: Describe what your responsibility was in that situation.
Action: Explain exactly what steps you took to address it.
Result: Share what outcomes your actions achieved.
The STAR technique offers a straightforward format you can use to answer behavioural interview questions—those prompts that ask you to provide a real-life example of how you handled a certain kind of situation at work in the past. Don’t worry—these questions are easy to recognise. They often have telltale openings like:
- Tell me about a time when…
- What do you do when…
- Have you ever…
- Give me an example of…
- Describe a…
Thinking of a fitting example for your response is just the beginning. Then you also need to share the details in a compelling and easy-to-understand way—without endless rambling. This is where following the STAR method is useful both in an interview setting and in your written selection criteria.
Mel Writes Resumes 