Creating a resume-based application
Your resume should address the requirements of the role you apply for. For example, if you are a generalist in your field and you apply for a specialist role, you should highlight your experience in that specific area in your resume.
Once you have obtained the position description from the Council website, you will need to read this thoroughly.
The first page of the position description is an overview of the role, followed by a list of key accountabilities and on the last page are the selection criteria.
Each section should represent a different area of your resume. Below is an explanation of each element of the job description, how and where it relates to your resume and how to address it.
- Position Title
- Team or unit
- Primary purpose of the role
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The type of position and its purpose should set the theme of your resume. Identify those positions in your employment history that are aligned with the position you are applying for. |
Highlight your relevant experience by adding duties you have performed and/or achievements you have had that are specifically related to the position and remove those that are unrelated. You can also mention similar roles you have held in your covering letter. |
- Statutory & Corporate requirements
- Organisational relationships
- Delegations
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These elements of the position description are for information purposes only and do not need to be addressed in your resume. You may wish to include details on your ability to meet some of the requirements in your covering letter. However, this is optional. |
Any details you include must be relevant, for example, if one of the corporate objectives is to promote a safe working environment, you might mention that this was a requirement in previous roles and how you achieved this. |
- Key accountabilities
- Weightings
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Key accountabilities should be reflected in your resume as your duties, responsibilities or key achievements.
The weightings are based upon priority of how important the accountability or criteria is to the role and what percentage of the position it comprises. For example, those accountabilities with the highest percentages will be your key priorities and the responsibilities you will spend most of your time on. |
Make your duties/responsibilities more comprehensive. For example, rather than listing a duty as “answering calls” you might say “receiving and responding to customer enquiries over the telephone”.
Spell out and explain the duty or responsibility. You might even want to provide a small paragraph to describe the primary purpose of your role prior to listing the related duties. |
- Essential
- Mandatory
- Desirable
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The selection criteria is broken up into essential, mandatory and desirable.
The essential criteria can be addressed as both duties/responsibilities or key achievements.
Mandatory criteria are generally legal requirements of the role eg: qualifications, physical ability and or licenses. These should be addressed on the first page of your resume under Qualifications / Education / Skills Summary or perhaps under another heading you may already have.
Desirable criteria also generally include qualifications and licences, however, can sometimes include levels of experience required, for example: five years' experience in customer service. These are not legal requirements of the role, they are criteria that are desirable to Council and will make you competitive in the process if you meet one or all of them. |
The essential criteria explain the level and detail of skills and experience required in relation to the key accountabilities. This is why you need to spell out your duties, so that the person reviewing your application can clearly see that you meet the criteria.
The other great place to address these criteria is in a list of key achievements.
For example, if a selection criteria talks about “excellent customer service skills” you can list any thank you letters, awards or recognition received to address this criteria.
You can also address your mandatory and desirable criteria in your covering letter.
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