Government jobs are won on the written answers.
The panel scores each written answer, and those answers decide who gets an interview. JobMatcha finds the criteria, drafts each answer from things you have done, and checks every claim against your record.
No card needed. Your first three drafts are free.
Does your job ad look like this?
If your position description has sentences like these, you must answer them in writing — and those answers get you shortlisted.
Those are selection criteria. Public-sector employers ask for them as a rule, and many schools, universities and not-for-profits do too. Most private companies do not.
What you get back
Give it the position description and a few things you have done. You get answers in the structure assessors look for.
The criterion, out of the position description
"Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines in a high-volume environment."
Example answerDrafted from one of your achievements
"As the Year 5 classroom teacher at a school of 620 students, I carried a full teaching load while coordinating the literacy programme across four classes. In Term 3, NAPLAN reporting, parent–teacher interviews and the programme review all fell in the same fortnight. I mapped the three deadlines against my release time, moved the review consultation a week earlier by agreement with the executive, and prepared the reporting data in batches during scheduled blocks. All three were delivered on time, and the literacy review was tabled with the executive a week ahead of the deadline."
Real rewrites of the answer above — tap the same one again for another version. In your account these buttons restyle your own answer, freshly each time, and you can still edit every word.
The criterion, out of the position description
"Capacity to communicate complex information to patients, families and members of a multidisciplinary team."
Example answerDrafted from one of your achievements
"As a registered nurse on a 28-bed surgical ward, I was the point of contact for a family after a patient's unexpected return to theatre. They spoke limited English and had been given three different explanations across two shifts. I booked an interpreter, sat with them and the surgical registrar for twenty minutes, and wrote the plan out in plain language with the date of each next step. I gave the same written summary to the incoming shift so the account stayed consistent. The family raised no further concern, and the ward manager adopted the written-summary handover for other long-stay families."
Real rewrites of the answer above — tap the same one again for another version. In your account these buttons restyle your own answer, freshly each time, and you can still edit every word.
The criterion, out of the position description
"Experience working effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team to deliver community outcomes."
Example answerDrafted from one of your achievements
"As a community services officer at a metropolitan council, I coordinated the accessibility upgrade of four neighbourhood halls. The work needed the facilities team, the finance officer, an external builder and the disability advisory committee, none of whom reported to me. I set a fortnightly fifteen-minute stand-up, kept one shared list of decisions, and put the committee's feedback to the builder in writing after each site visit. All four halls re-opened before the grant acquittal date, and the committee's two priority items — hearing loops and step-free entries — were delivered within the original budget."
Real rewrites of the answer above — tap the same one again for another version. In your account these buttons restyle your own answer, freshly each time, and you can still edit every word.
These are examples, written for this page. Your answers are built from the achievements you enter. If the wording does not sound like you, make it shorter, stronger or more human in a tap — or swap the achievement it draws on and edit every word.
How it works
About ten minutes, for something that usually takes an evening.
Paste the position description
It pulls out the criteria, one per line. Already have them? Paste them straight in — that costs nothing.
It finds your evidence
Each criterion is matched to your achievements, so it writes from your strongest real example. You can pick a different one.
Every line is checked back
Anything the draft claims that your achievement does not support is flagged before you send it. You edit, then copy or print.
It is not only teachers and nurses
Public-sector employers ask for them as a rule. If you work in one of these, you have met them before — probably at midnight, the day it closed.
- Teachers and school support staff — state, Catholic and independent
- Nurses, midwives and allied health — state health services and hospital networks
- Public servants — federal, state and territory agencies
- Council staff — local government, every level
- University and TAFE staff — academic and professional roles
- Police, emergency services and defence civilians
- Not-for-profits, charities and community services — many use criteria for programme, fundraising and coordinator roles
- Anyone moving into the public sector — the criteria are the part nobody warns you about
What it costs
The same account builds your resume and cover letter. Selection criteria are one part of it.
Free account
- Four selection-criteria answers
- Three resumes and cover letters, with live preview
- Ten job-ad match scores
- The Career Explorer test and your personality type
- One mock interview to try
- The rest are one-off to try, not a monthly allowance
A$29.95 a month
- 60 selection-criteria answers a month
- Download everything as PDF — open it in Word to edit
- 20 tailored resumes and cover letters a month
- Much higher limits on everything else
These are the parts that matter for selection criteria.
See everything both accounts include →
Cancel any time. Prices in Australian dollars.
Free guides
Written from the employers' own published guidance, with worked examples. No account needed.
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How to answer selection criteria
The two formats, the STAR method, three worked examples and the mistakes to avoid.
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STAR method for NSW Government jobs
Targeted questions, focus capabilities and their levels, with six worked examples.
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Teacher aide selection criteria
The role name in every state, five worked examples, and what to use with no classroom experience.
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Explaining transferable skills
How to translate your old job into the new employer's words, in a resume, letter and interview.
The next one closes on a Sunday night.
Give it the position description now, and spend the evening on the parts only you can write.
Answer three criteria free →