In Brisbane, I refer people to: Career Clarity

or

 Business Education And Research Services (BEARS)

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Providing Services Across Australia

For expert job coaching (cover letters, resume, selection criteria, application forms,  and interviews) - contact me at brisbanejobcoach@gmail.com or 0403766812

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If you do a Google search you will find many resume and selection criteria writers – all offering different services. The fees differ significantly, and vary according to what services are included (eg amount of personal consultation, number of drafts provided, level of specialisation of the job, turnaround time;  and whether resume, cover letters, selection criteria and interview coaching are purchased at the same time).

You will find providers who advertise that they will provide a resume for $110.  At the higher end, prices are advertised at $349 for Early Career, $549 for Mid Career and $749 for Executive resumes.

With selection criteria, it depends on the number of criteria and length of writing required (i.e is one page per criterion required? or two pages only to cover 5 criteria?).  You should anticipate paying at a minimum of around $100 per page. However, with very specific technical or executive roles, which require a much greater time commitment and expertise of the writer, a quote of up to $2000 could be expected.

Would you invest $200 to $2000 to win that dream job? For many the answer is a clear YES.

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Do you need someone who understands the Integrated Leadership System (Australian Government)  or Capability Leadership Framework (Queensland Government)?

Contact me at brisbanejobcoach@gmail.com   or 0403766812

Send me your draft resume, and details of any job/s that you are interested in.  Tell me if you need to work on your application (covering letter, resume or selection criteria) or if you need interview practice. I can provide a no obligation free quote.

My specialty is coaching people for job interviews. I enjoy assisting people to win jobs – and would love to hear from you.        Cheryl

Most Agencies have a ‘Non-Ongoing Employment Register’. The details of how to register is published on each Agency’s recruitment website. A person interested in several Agencies will need to submit a different application for each Agency. Some examples of these are, Department of Defence, Australian Bureau of Statistics , Medicare Australia, Attorney-General’s Department, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Commonwealth Ombudsman and National Native Title Tribunal.  

A list of all Australian Government Agencies can be found at the Government On-Line Directory. This site also gives links to State Government Directories. 

For Ex-Employees

Ready Now is a temporary employment register specifically for former employees of the Australian Public Service or similar Commonwealth bodies. Only one registration is necessary to cover all Agencies. 

Employment policy and advice

Employment policy and advice about non-ongoing employment is outlined in Australian Public Service Commission publications.

Permanent Vacancies

Some non-ongoing vacancies are advertised along with permanent opportunities on APS Jobs, which has an Email me Jobs service.

For expert job application or interview coaching, please contact me at brisbanejobcoach@gmail.com or 0403766812

As all interviewers and interview panels have different preferences, it is impossible to predict exactly what will be asked in an interview. However, it is likely that candidates will be asked to talk about experience and past behaviours. The best candidates will be able to relate this to the job that they are applying for.

I suggest to my clients that they use a ‘CARLA’ approach as part of their interview preparation.

Think of 5-10 of your best achievements – make sure these are relevant to the role you are applying for, and are at the right level of complexity. For each of these achievements write down -

What was CHALLENGING or COMPLEX (strategically and operationally) about this project?

What ACTIONS did you take? Why?

What RESULTS (s) did you achieve? Was it the expected result?

What did you LEARN from this experience?

How can you APPLY what you have learnt to add value to the advertised role?

If you are using this interview preparation approach, it is best to have a CARLA for all the capabilities/criteria that you can identify (from the job documentation) that the employer is seeking. For example, for ‘Team Skills’, your achievement may be CHALLENGING/COMPLEX for any number of reasons – e.g. multidisciplinary team, everyone new to the team, need to produce an outcome in a short timeframe, project linked to a key organisational initiative, matrix structure, new or multiple changes to leadership, shared leadership, resource shortages, redundancies and downsizing of a team, large team, team dispersed across a number of locations, intercultural communication, history of conflict, team brought together from a several divisions, …………

When discussion ACTIONS, consider what factors were significant in the achievements of this team. You need to be ready to discuss what your role was in the team, what strengths you bought to the team, and show a good understanding of what makes an effective team. The factors that you may consider discussing include:

 • How was clarity about how the team project fitted with strategic or business goals, and a team vision established?

 • Was there a shared understanding of expected outcomes?

• How was awareness of team dynamics, different styles, strengths and weaknesses displayed?

• What strategies were adopted to enhance working together? – planning, prioritising, roles and responsibilities, work allocation, helping others, sharing knowledge

 • What communication channels were most effective?

• Was there a focus on collaboration and cooperation?

• What conflict arose and what productive conflict management strategies were utilised?

• Were stress management and celebration of successes relevant?

 • How were Values, Code of Conduct, and flexible work practices managed?

 • What was the role of respect, tolerance, non – discriminatory work practices, trust and confidence?

 • How did team members (and you) display initiative, a solutions focus, resilience and a receptiveness to change?

• How did the team manage setbacks? risks? health and safety issues?

• How did the team monitor and evaluate their effectiveness?

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Contact me at brisbanejobcoach@gmail.com   or 0403766812

Send me your draft resume, and details of any job/s that you are interested in.  Tell me if you need to work on your application (covering letter, resume or selection criteria) or if you need interview practice. I can provide a no obligation free quote.

My specialty is coaching people for job interviews. I enjoy assisting people to win jobs – and would love to hear from you.  

 Cheryl

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A recruitment consultant told her that her resume and cover letter were poorly written (for Marie, English was a second language), and that she had not highlighted her achievements in these documents.

Marie saw a job advertised with Employer X, which was a good match for her skills. She decided to invest in the services of a Resume Writer. The Resume Writer talked to her about her work experiences and identified achievements that Marie had not thought to include. In no time – the Resume Writer produced a very professional resume and cover letter, that Marie was proud to submit to Employer X.

Employer X read Marie’s resume and was impressed by her experience and skills. They flagged Marie as a candidate worthy of progressing to the interview stage of the selection process. Before finalising the list of candidates to be interviewed, Employer X decided to check the web presence of the preferred candidates.

Marie’s name was ‘Googled’.

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Marie was the treasurer of a charity group TICK

Marie was registered with Facebook TICK

Marie’s Facebook Privacy settings prevented public viewing of her profile TICK

Marie had a Linkedin profile TICK

Marie’s Linkedin profile looked like her old resume (typos and poor English expression) BOO……

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Marie did not get an interview.

It is a good idea to make sure your online presence is consistent with your job application. Talk to your Resume Writer or Job Coach if you need help with your on-line profiles.

 - All of your friends and colleagues are talking about Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter….

 - You just have not had time to learn these tools.

 - You just want someone to sit with you to get you started.

——–   GET STARTED TODAY ——–

To discuss – contact me on 0403766812 or brisbanejobcoach@gmail.com

Fees – starting at A$250 (plus GST) for 2 hours of individual tuition. Or get together with a couple of friends/work colleagues and ask for a quote.

Guide to Managing Your Online Profile For Job-Search Opportunities

Can Facebook and Bebo improve your job search?

How to Use Social Media in Your Job Search

10 Social Media Tools For Executive Job Search

Using social media for a job search

A good place to start research, if you are looking for information on graduate programs, is a new site GradConnection. GradConnection is a company set up by three recent graduates to help students find graduate jobs, graduate programs, graduate positions, graduate internships and cadetships. In this site, you can browse graduate employers by location and find out about the graduate programs in the parts of Australia you want to work in. You can also browse graduate employers by industry and get direct links to the graduate programs in your area of study.

To keep up to date on graduate opportunities you can read GradConnection’s Blog and follow them on Twitter.

Link to my hints about Graduate Assessment Centres

• damn selection criteria. maybe writing job apps is easier without the wine  
• Selection Criteria….yuck! 
• Aren’t selection criteria’s fun!? 
• I hate selection criteria. 25 min to write 3 lines. 1 question down, 12 to go 
• job applications are hard! selection criteria wtf? 
• Damm selection criteria 
• Ignoring the last few of those pesky selection criteria. Maybe later this evening. Trying to ignore the nausea. 
•  ‘essential’ and ‘desirable’ selection criteria – it somehow sounds very erotic… if you changed essential to sensual 
• Attacking those darned Selection Criteria. First one: High level of reception & communication skills. Can’t I just say “yes” & move on? 
• Responding to the World’s Largest Selection Criteria with my equally lengthy and wordy supporting statement. 
• SELECTION CRITERIA HELL ONCE MORE! 
• Selection criteria suck I hate writing them 
•  just did her second selection criteria for one day… aghh!! 
• Frell me. I HATE Selection Criteria. “Knowlege of public sector financial & administrative legislation.” YUCK. Don’t know what to write.  
• TEN selection criteria? Are you kidding me? Moreton Bay Council; you’re no ASIO.

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For job seekers, the words ‘Selection Criteria’ can often be found in the same sentence as hell, nausea, darned, hate, yuk and you have got to be kidding. Nevertheless, they are here to stay, particularly for publically funded roles. There are many good reasons for employers to use specific criteria, and to assess against these requirements to find the best person for a job.

It is not the principle of selection criteria that brings bile to the throat – the problem is the way that some employers use them to make writing a job application into a very onerous task.

In the pre-November employee shortage, a growing number of public sector employers decided that a tailored resume and brief statement (or answers to questions) were sufficient to screen applicants who should move to the next stage of the selection process. Unfortunately, other employers have persisted in using too many, often repetitive selection criteria; and asking candidates to ‘address selection criteria’ without giving any guidance on the length, depth or format required.

The latter approach may lack courtesy and be an inefficient way to run a competitive selection process. However, it is the current reality for some jobs. Applicants need to learn to effectively tackle the addressing of selection criteria – in whatever format – if they wish to secure what can be a rewarding public sector career. Candidates can get help through books and web guidance, employ a job coach (like me) or hire someone to write their applications.

Share your ideas on what has helped you to ‘address selection criteria’.

 Looking for an expert to coach you to write your job application or prepare for the job  interview - contact me at brisbanejobcoach@gmail.com or 0403766812

• Supports strategic direction or Shapes strategic thinking
• Achieves results
• Supports productive working relationships  or Cultivates productive working relationships
• Displays personal drive and integrity  or Exemplifies personal drive and integrity
• Communicates with influence

The Queensland Government has adopted a Capability and Leadership Framework (CLF) which is similar to the Australian Public Service Integrated Leadership System (ILS). This framework outlines the core capabilities and associated behaviours required of public servants at each classification and functional level within the Queensland Public Service. 

The Individual Profiles which describe the capabilities and behavioural indicators required at the different levels are likely to be the most useful part of the CLF, if you are using it to apply for a job.   

If you read the whole CLF document, you will find useful tools to support you in assessing your development needs for a public service career.  IPAA Queensland has mapped all of its courses to the five capabilities of the CLF.

Queensland Government jobs and careers are advertised at SmartJobs.

 Looking for an expert to coach you to write your job application or prepare for the job  interview - contact me at brisbanejobcoach@gmail.com or 0403766812

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