Answer the criterion in the advertisement, then prove the claim with a specific result. The examples below are teaching aids, not official wording for every role. Some application pathways do not require a separate written KSC response. Follow the current advertisement and application portal.
Key selection criteria describe the skills, knowledge, personal qualities or experience used to assess applicants. They are common in Australian public-sector recruitment and in many Victorian government school vacancies. Panels compare the evidence in the written application, interview and referee information against the advertised criteria.
A KSC response is not a general cover letter. A cover letter introduces your fit for the role; a selection-criteria document answers named requirements one by one. Some employers combine the two or impose a word limit. Copy the exact headings and comply with the instructions supplied for that vacancy.
Current Victorian School Jobs Applicant Pool guidance also shows why blanket claims are risky: some applicant-pool pathways use a CV or résumé and assess criteria later, without a separate written response. Always check the live process.
After you have identified the evidence, build the matching CV to present your experience clearly.
Set the context in one or two sentences.
State your responsibility and the problem to solve.
Explain what you personally did, using precise verbs.
Give the real outcome, evidence and what changed.
Spend most of the response on Action and Result. Replace vague claims such as “excellent communicator” with a relevant example. Use figures only when you can verify them.
Illustrative criterion: demonstrate safe care and sound clinical judgement. Example: During a busy medical ward shift, I identified a change in a patient’s observations, repeated the assessment, escalated under the local protocol and documented the response. The team reviewed the patient promptly and adjusted the care plan.
Illustrative criterion: communicate with patients, families and multidisciplinary teams. Example: I used teach-back to explain discharge medicines, confirmed the patient’s understanding, and gave the GP and community nurse a concise handover. Follow-up identified no medicine discrepancy.
Illustrative criterion: contribute to improvement. Example: I audited incomplete bedside handover fields, tested a shorter prompt with the nurse unit manager and compared completion over four weeks. Report the real result from your workplace; never invent a percentage.
Illustrative Victorian theme: demonstrate knowledge of curriculum and effective teaching practice. Example: I used pre-assessment to group a Year 7 mathematics class, taught explicit worked examples and checked exit tickets twice weekly. I then retaught the two concepts with the weakest evidence.
Illustrative Victorian theme: evaluate the impact of teaching. Example: I compared rubric evidence across a writing unit, gave targeted conferencing and adjusted the next sequence. In your response, state the actual improvement and the assessment used.
Illustrative Victorian theme: communicate and work effectively with students, parents and colleagues. Example: I coordinated a learning-support meeting, documented agreed adjustments and reviewed progress with the family and support team after four weeks.
Paste the job advertisement into the tool below. It runs in your browser and looks for likely criterion lines, then gives you a STAR response skeleton for each one. Check every extracted item against the live advertisement before you write.
Use your own evidence and the vacancy’s word limit. The tool does not submit an application or invent claims.
Include the section headed selection criteria, essential requirements, or what we are looking for. The tool runs in your browser and ignores salary and benefits lines.
Copy each criterion as a heading, make a direct claim, then prove it with a specific example. STAR is a useful structure: establish the situation and task briefly, spend most words on your action, and finish with a concrete result.
Replace vague claims such as “excellent communicator” with a relevant example. Use figures only when you can verify them. A KSC response is not a general cover letter, and a separate response may not be requested for every vacancy.
The download provides headings and prompts only. It does not supply claims for you and it does not replace the vacancy’s instructions.
Copy each criterion as a heading, make a direct claim, then prove it with a specific example. STAR is a useful structure: establish the situation and task briefly, spend most words on your action, and finish with a concrete result.
Criteria vary by vacancy and classification. Common themes include knowledge of curriculum, planning and assessment, monitoring student learning, communication, collaboration and professional learning. Always answer the exact criteria in the advertisement.
This guide covers the STAR structure and worked examples. The free PDF template gives you headings and prompts to draft your own responses.
When your selection-criteria evidence is ready, create your Australian CV.
Download a blank local template if you want to work offline.