Free Selection Criteria Template Example

Answers
Sometimes the best way to learn how to address key selection criteria is by reading
the right way to do it. It allows you to see the STAR method in action and what
recruiters are looking for when they’re scanning through multiple applications. These
examples may help inspire you to write an amazing response utilising your own skills
and experience.

Demonstrated success in delivering high-level support services to Executive staff in a

high demand environment.

The keywords in this example are delivering high-level support and the ability to
work in a high demand environment. The employer is looking for specific examples
as per the opening statement of demonstrated success.

I have over fifteen years of experience providing executive support and assistance in
busy environments within the mental health, aged care, family services, and
education, commercial and religious sectors. In all of my roles, I have been
acknowledged for providing outstanding support as well as improving processes and
procedures to increase office efficiency.

In my current role, I am the Executive Assistant to the Executive Director of the State
Insurance Regulatory Authority. I am responsible for diary and travel management
(including resolving clashes and negotiating arrangements), managing meeting
logistics, drafting and sending correspondence, answering emails, responding to
telephone enquiries, creating documents and presentations, and managing expenses.

In 2016, I was the Executive Assistant at Thomas Holt, reporting to the CEO. I
provided diary and email management prepared Board papers and manages meeting
logistics. I have also been the Executive Assistant, reporting to the Director, for the
Safeguarding and Ministerial Office for the Archdiocese of Sydney and the Executive
Support Officer, reporting to the Chairman for the Catholic Social Services
NSW/ACT Branch. In these roles, I demonstrated success by:

 Developing induction programs and delivering them to new Branch CEOs

 Creating the operational plan for the NSW/ACT Branch linking to the
broader Strategic Plan of the organisation
 Producing member surveys and reported the findings to the Board and
Chairman
 Establishing meeting systems and processes, including evaluating the
effectiveness of current structures
 Implemented paper and electronic filing systems
 Five years of experience supporting Boards within the not-for-profit sector
I also have two years of experience in short term contract roles in organisations of
varying size and complexity, providing executive support in busy commercial and
government organisations. This included delivering services to the Chief Information
Officer at Qantas, a Leighton Contractors Project Director, the Chief Information
Officer for Baulderstone Hornibrook, and the General Manager of Human Resources
in the Department of Education and Training. In these roles, I managed diaries, travel,
expenses, filing systems, reports, presentations, meetings, events, and document
creation.

I liaised with external stakeholders holding high office, such as the Bishops of the
NSW/ACT Catholic Church, the Catholic Education Commission via Board and
Committee’s, NSW Health seeking funding approvals, NSW Law Society to
collaborate on a website project.

Demonstrated experience in project management.

The employer is interested in specific examples of projects you’ve worked on. It’s
ideal to include initiatives you’ve worked on and the results of it. Was it successful?
Did it fail? Why did it fail? What could have been done differently? This is all
relevant to the employer as it demonstrates experience.

I have experience in managing a range of different projects. For example, most

recently, while working for the Mental Health Commission of NSW as a
Communications Specialist, I coordinated the 2017 Mental Health International
Leadership Exchange. This involved liaisons between journalists, media producers,
videographers, and host organisations to facilitate information exchanges and
communication of opportunities. I also recently managed the logistics of the
Australian first “Check up from the Neck Up” campaign held at the Sydney Royal
Easter Show and I was responsible for the planning, running, and evaluation of the
event. I also was responsible for the recent Digital Mental Health Speaking
engagement, which had over 400 delegates in attendance.

While working for Catholic Social Services, I organised a Parliamentary Forum to

discuss funding for best practice programs. This involved developing an event
prospectus to send to MPs following the event and sharing client and service success
stories as a way of continuing to engage politicians and other agencies. I also
managed guests, Ministerial speakers, the venue, catering, registrations, event
photography, and reporting on the forum’s outcomes. As a result, the NSW/ACT
Branch profile was raised, and funding opportunities increased.

I have also completed projects involving website redevelopment from the design stage
through to implementation and evaluation. To complete the initiative, I worked with
web designers, consulted with staff to deliver content, and achieved approval from the
Board to go ahead with the project based on funding available.

Highly developed communication skills (written and oral) with

an ability to interact with people at all levels.
Here you’ll need to demonstrate how you communicate with peers, stakeholders,
executives, and any other team members. Are you able to relate to all levels of
management? You’ll want to use examples of interactions you’ve had and how you
communicated with them in multiple forms.

As a professional Executive Assistant, my communication and interpersonal skills

have been developed to a high level, and I have the ability to deal with an
organisation’s key internal and external stakeholders, including heads of agencies,
Senior Managers, caseworkers, health professionals, and the general public. I
currently manage travel arrangements, email, and other communications while acting
as the first point of call for the Executive Director at the State Insurance Regulatory
Authority. As the Executive Assistant in the Safeguarding and Ministerial Integrity
Office, I was responsible for referring calls to specialised officers, responding to
historical and new complaints, and working with the Director to notify the NSW
Ombudsman. This role also required the ability to deal empathetically and sensitively
with distressed, upset, and angry people, similar to my experience working in the
mental health sector

In addition, as the Executive Support officer for Catholic Social Services, I:

 Created policies and procedures covering expense management and wrote a

policy regarding the expenditure of reserves under $100k
 Wrote and reported to the National Office, Chairman, CSS NSW/ACT
Board or Branch on advocacy priority areas such as homelessness,
disabilities, mental health issues, committee activities, and day to day
operations
 Created and maintained a confidential filing and records system, moving
towards a paperless office
While working for the Mental Health Association of NSW, I:

 Was a crucial member in the development of the Memorandum of

Understanding between NSW Health and the Mental Health Association of
NSW requiring working with multiple stakeholders, members of the
Association, the NSW Government and drafting documents for review and
consultation
 Led the development of policies including those dealing with harassment,
complaints, and grievances and presented them to the Board for approval
 Initiated the development and funding of a website for lawyers working
with clients with mental health issues
 Developed networks within culturally diverse and indigenous communities
to promote the Seasons for Growth, a grief education program
 Dealt empathically with health professionals, consumers, and carers in
order to refer persons to the service that suited their needs
Demonstrated ability to show initiative and use sound judgment
and work collaboratively and as part of a team as well as
independently.
There are several keywords in this statement, specifically initiative, sound
judgement, work collaboratively and independently. The employer wants to see how
proactive you are, what your decision-making process looks like, and how well you
play with others.

I most recently demonstrated my initiative in managing the Digital Mental Health

Event for the Mental Health Commission of NSW, where I increased RSVPs from 30
to over 400 people in a month through identifying potential attendees, creating
engaging communications, and creating wide-ranging interest in the event. Working
in the Archdiocese Safeguarding and Ministerial Integrity Office required a high level
of initiative and the application of judgement on a daily basis when dealing with new
and historical complaints, submitting notifications of concern to the NSW
Ombudsman, and dealing with complex matters. I have also demonstrated initiative
through my work reviewing policies (for example, expense and financial management
policies), forming working groups to evaluate and improve procedures and making
recommendations to value add, sharing information and expertise that have been
approved by Boards, CEOs, and Executive Directors.

I can work with both staff, internal and external Boards, Committee members, and
clients and members of the community in the health services sector to achieve
strategic and operational goals. I am comfortable working on my own on projects
such as completing reports and presentations, but have also demonstrated the ability
to work collaboratively and in a team, as evidenced by my work with the various
Special Interest Groups for the Catholic Social Services NSW/ACT Branch. Here I
collaborated on Terms of Reference development, which involved meeting with the
multiple stakeholders and committees, drafting new Terms of Reference, and then
having them approved by the Board for use with Special Interest Groups and
Committees. As a result of my involvement, I increased participation to 33 members
in the Branch and Special Interest Groups, including assisting the transition to a new
Executive and coordinating guest speakers and networking opportunities. I also have
experience using my initiative to seek agenda items and prepare papers for the Board
and the CSS NSW/ACT General Meetings and assist the Chair in developing content
for the Quality Assurance Working Group meetings and made suggestions on how to
facilitate the Youth Services Network. I have also made proposals for designers to the
Board regarding a significant website redevelopment, consulting with staff during the
implementation phase working towards an evaluation of the project while working for
the Mental Health Association.

Demonstrated experience in managing a high workload,

including the ability to prioritise tasks whilst under sustained
pressure and maintain accuracy and attention to detail.
In this key criterion, you’ll need to demonstrate how you perform under pressure.
How do you prioritise the importance of tasks, and if you’re too busy, does your
work suffer?
I can manage a demanding and sustained workload whilst remaining calm and
maintaining quality outputs. I am able to plan and prioritise work, which sometimes
includes replanning on a daily basis to accommodate unforeseen events, changing
priorities, or additional work. I am an experienced diary, travel, and email manager
and have dealt with high volumes of phone calls and in-person visitors.

I am a fast and adaptable learner, as evidenced by one-year short-term contract

Executive Assistance roles, which required the ability to hit the ground running and
immediately provide quality support to senior members of an organisation. I also have
experience delivering events and projects within short time frames as well as offering
business as usual executive services, as evidenced by the successful organisation of
the Mental Health International Leadership Exchange and the Thomas Holt
60th Anniversary Celebration. I can manage high workloads whilst at the same time
identifying opportunities to work smarter. For example, while working for the Mental
Health Association of NSW, I improved reporting efficiencies by 90%, at no cost to
the organisation, which also enhanced the ability to forecast and report on the high
demand for services.

I’m adept at juggling tasks in both simple and complex environments in organisations
ranging in size. I aim to keep executive support running smoothly, ensuring
stakeholders have the information required to move ahead with their tasks. I utilise
programs such as Outlook, to-do lists, and checklists to complete work in a timely
fashion.

I have managed and monitored budgets with 100% accuracy while employed as the
Catholic Social Services Executive Support Officer. This required an eye for detail
and the ability to spot discrepancies and risks to the budget. In addition, I was
responsible for invoicing and expense management and ensuring details were
recorded and correctly distributed. I also use my eye for detail to gather and analyse
statistics and qualitative information to create recommendations and improve services,
which I did while the Executive Assistant in the Archdiocese of Sydney. I was here I
benchmarked information provided against local and international organisations and
made key recommendations to improve communications.

Demonstrated experience in meeting preparation, organisation,

and minute taking experience in real-time using computers.
This criterion requires specific examples of how you prepare your meetings and
organise yourself. The employer wants to know your process, how successful it is,
and how flexible it could work for their environment.

I have been responsible for organising meeting logistics, preparing and distributing
agendas, taking and drafting minutes, and following up on action items. I am
experienced in taking detailed minutes, capturing strategic discussions and big picture
visions as well as accurately capturing the details of action items. I have used various
tools to assist with meeting management, including using a laptop, dictaphone, or
note-taking to record meetings and take minutes. For example, while the Executive
Assistant with Thomas Holt, I was responsible for the preparation of meeting venues,
attendees, agendas, minutes, and papers for Board meetings. I attended Board
meetings, took minutes, and collaborated with the Chair for final approval and
distribution.

Whilst employed as the Executive Support Officer for Catholic Social Services, I
reinvigorated the Branch structure by creating a meeting schedule, increasing
participation by members, and co-chairing meetings. Providing Secretariat services to
the Branch and special interest group committees, I drafted agendas, recorded
minutes, prepared meeting papers for the Executive Board and Branch members. I
also assisted with the Annual General Meeting coordination. I even worked with the
Youth, Quality Assurance, Mental Health, and Marketing Special Interest Working
Groups to create and update Terms of Reference and operating guidelines and
supported the Chair to work with these groups.