Breaking the APS barrier?

First off make sure there are no spelling/grammatical/typo mistakes in your application. It surprises me greatly the number of people of all ages that can’t spell even basic words (break and brake are two words often used incorrectly). If I was in a position of going through applications these ones are the first I would toss in the bin, regardless of the experience or qualifications of the writer.

There are usually a couple of adverts in the Saturday edition of The Canberra Times for people/businesses that (for a price) will help you write selection criteria replies for APS jobs. Avoid one called To The Letter, I had a bad experience with them.

Last year when I got an APS 6 position at the ATO, I was selected out of a group of 116 applicants.

motleychick said :

Applying for jobs in the paper or on the gazette can be a waste of time as they are already filled internally, and they are only being advertised because they have to be.

I’ve told you a million times not to exaggerate. Sometimes yes, there will be someone acting in job who is then appointed/promoted after the selection process, but there are many advertised jobs where no one is acting, a new position for example.

Wasn’t overexaggerating, should have added to that to contact the officer to see if someone is currently in the position and go from there.

motleychick said :

You won’t find an employment agency that can place you in a permanent APS position. It is true when they tell you they can only put you in temp or contract positions. The best way to get your foot in the door is to get into a temp position. When your contract is up and you apply for the position, you have more of a chance since you have been in it for 3 months or so.

Temp contracts are a good foot in the door. I’ve filled a few positions with staff who were hired via a temp agencies. Their time in the job enabled them to ace the selection process.

motleychick said :

Applying for jobs in the paper or on the gazette can be a waste of time as they are already filled internally, and they are only being advertised because they have to be.

I’ve told you a million times not to exaggerate. Sometimes yes, there will be someone acting in job who is then appointed/promoted after the selection process, but there are many advertised jobs where no one is acting, a new position for example.

You won’t find an employment agency that can place you in a permanent APS position. It is true when they tell you they can only put you in temp or contract positions. The best way to get your foot in the door is to get into a temp position. When your contract is up and you apply for the position, you have more of a chance since you have been in it for 3 months or so.

Applying for jobs in the paper or on the gazette can be a waste of time as they are already filled internally, and they are only being advertised because they have to be.

Getting a permanent jobi n the APS can be very hard, but it also depends on who you know. If you know someone who is in a high level position than they may be able to help you get in, although most of the time you will still have to go through the interview process.

Enny said :

I’m not sure how old you are, what pay you’re on and if this is relevant for you, but some government graduate programs accept people with tertiary education completed up to 7 years ago – they usually guarantee permanent employment at completion.

Graduate recruitment rounds for APS departments are advertised Australia wide, so applicants are competing with hundreds of others and the process can take up to a year.

Yes, it’s important to get the form of your application right, so RTFM on that.

Additionally, you really need to find out what they want, as an organisation as well as your prospective section. Find out who works there and talk to them. Find out how the place works.

I recently got an APS job and I’m pretty sure the thing that did it was when I described in detail a previous employment where a particular situation was dealt with. That situation was a situation I knew my interviewers were currently facing, making it a no-brainer for them to select me. I have no idea what the competition was like.

On the other hand, unless you are unskilled and therefore unemployable elsewhere, the APS pay is totally abysmal so as a technical writer, which is to say you are somebody with an actual skill, you should definitely try your hand in the private sector.
Have you tried Alphawest and Logica? Both pay very well and seem to be run by intelligent people.

Having spread my professional life between both the public and private sector over the past twenty years I’d have this to add to the above:

Get into a temp role and do your job well. Performance in that capacity will stand you in good stead come hiriing time.

Althogh you may well be up against incumbents who are already seen as “in” a particular position, there’s always the inherent “sexiness” of an outsider. Some of it boils down to the fact that the incumbent mightn’t be doing the job as well as the department would like, but there’s also the fresh perspective that an outsider brings to particular challenges or tasks – your not necessarily encumbered by knowing all the traps and pitfalls so you answer diferently to an incumbent – in some instances it makes you look like you don’t fully grasp the full extent of the issue, but in another light it can give you an advantage – precisely because you’re not encumbered by the full extent of the intricacies of the job.

In short. Don’t give up.

I have be informed that these days you need to go as a temp to get in

We had 762 applicants for a role released recently..

Been there, done that….

Ask for some help from your (permanent) APS workmates. We speak a special language and when you are an outsider (aka not one of us) it is hard to know how to approach the whole selection criteria thingee.

Your colleagues should be able to give you some guidance – and if you can snaffle someone elses application from an earlier round to get some ideas – even better.

There are companies around that will write responses to selection criteria for you.. well basically take what you have written and help you improve it. That might be a good place to start if you think it’s your selection criteria writing skills negatively impacting you progressing. Most APS jobs will bin your application straight off if it doesn’t address the criteria.

Yes there are jobs around where there is already sitting in the position, while it might be possible for people outside to take that position, in reality, the percentage would be quite low. But then if you don’t apply, you will never know.

I am a recruitment manager at a large department and this is my two cents worth:

There is a certain formula that most selection critera are assessed against. Doesn’t matter how well you can “write” if you fail to meet the actual points they are assessing, you will be cut.

Many departments are following the SES style capability framework. This basically describe what you can expect to be competent at each particular level. For example, an APS 4 might have a good understanding of ABC, while an APS 6 would be expected to have a strong understanding of ABC etc.

Now, sometimes the questions will be used to assess certain capabilities, communciation, innovation etc – often the questions will make the capability self explanatory, but sometimes not, you need to understand what they are trying to assess and focus on that in your selection criteria.

Best practice recruitment often talks about using past skills and capabilities in determining future proprects. The best way to do this is to provide a valid example of when you “showed leadership” or whatever the question is asking you. It’s easy if you break it down using the STAR principle:
S – Situation; what was going on at the time, what was the environment like, why was it not working
T – task – what did you do
A – Action – How did you do it
R – Result – what happened, what was achieved, and why did it work.

Spend your words focusing on this, and be prepared to use more than one example if necessary. Don’t talk about what you can do unless you back it up with proof that you have done it in the past.

Also, relook over your resume. Often in APS selection processes the resume is overlooked with focus being on the selection critera, but if you tailor your resume to the specific role that you are applying for, you will be one further step ahead. Feel free to make part of your resume a list of skills that you have, perhaps label them under headings such as “Admin skills” or “Technological Skills” etc – whatever may be appropriate.

Finally, don’t be afriad to ring the contact officer and ask why you weren’t selected. APS have a general practice of offering feedback as to why you weren’t selected.

Good luck.

Ally

laughtong said :

Have a look at this site http://www.selectioncriteria.com.au/

Her book would hopefully be in the Public Libraries or in your Agency’s library.

You should have access to a library through most APS agencies – check it out! There may be other good resources there for these types of issues.

+1 for Dr Villiers book. You used to be able to pick it up at the Co-op.

Not sure about agencies; you’d be limiting the number of jobs you’d be open to if you went to one. But there are a few career counsellors out there who specialise in assisting people to land APS jobs. Ann Villiers is one of them, and she’s also written a book about it.

I am so sick of people who say “oh you wont ever get a job if someone is already acting in it”. That is not only totally wrong but just a bit pathetic.

I know of many, including myself, who have won jobs which have had someone already acting in them. Just because someone is acting in a position doesn’t mean they are performing well or the most suitable or qualified to be there. Sometimes it just means they were in the right place at the right time and their branch was desperate to put a bum on a seat.

Instead of blaming the fact that someone was already acting in a position as the reason you didn’t get a job, how about looking at the standard of your application and whether your qualifications and experience are up to scratch ?

If people don’t bother applying for jobs simply because there is someone already acting in it then a lot of unsuitable people are going to be handed jobs on a platter while better candidates are still at home going through the classifieds.

Got to be in it to win it, people !

I’m not sure how old you are, what pay you’re on and if this is relevant for you, but some government graduate programs accept people with tertiary education completed up to 7 years ago – they usually guarantee permanent employment at completion.

earthrepair said :

Perhaps don’t share your medical condition with them. Although they say they don’t I am sure they would subconsciously discriminate against people who might cause them extra anxiety. You are often dealing with a fairly bureaucratic type of person who sees things black and white and may not be so compassionate or even care; unlike say our editor.

Oh, I don’t. Yeah, there’s no way I’d tell them about it before getting the job and I avoid telling them about it full stop. Yesh, I don’t mention things that are likly to be judged when in all fairness they should not be. I’m not being dishonest, but really my medical history should not be a factor in if I get a job or not unless it has a big affect on my job. This dosn’t for the vast majority of the time.

To further sexynotsmarts comment, you will also find a huge number of the jobs advertised are already filled.

After the APS budget cuts(at least at the department I work for)it was very difficult to hire staff but that does not mean internal staff were not getting acting positions. That is how where I work most new positions were being filled. Further more positions were cut and those staff were merely transferred around the department. Only short term temp contracts are being offered to fill the vacant entry level positions until there is budget certainty.

Now all those higher duties and temp contracts have been going on for so long the positions have to be advertised but the odds of someone external getting the job is slim.

My section recently advertised advertised a number of positions including mine. They attracted well over 50 applications for each position but all the positions are filled, the odds of replacing us were incredibly low as we have all been doing the job for quite a while and in my opinion quite well.

A good question to ask when applying for a job is whether someone is acting in the position. If there is, don’t get your hopes up.

As a side note with IT contractors currently out of flavor and staff being brought “in house” all over the APS you should find something in the near future.

ChrisinTurner said :

The APS is changing over to the the private sector system of “it’s not what you know but who you know”. You will notice that few job descriptions call for any qualifications. This is evident in the IT areas of nearly every department where there are even EL1 people with no IT technical skills. When people with IT skills come along they are hounded out of the APS by supervisors who feel threatened.

what crap, sexynotsmart is correct.

Have a look at this site http://www.selectioncriteria.com.au/

Her book would hopefully be in the Public Libraries or in your Agency’s library.

You should have access to a library through most APS agencies – check it out! There may be other good resources there for these types of issues.

Perhaps don’t share your medical condition with them. Although they say they don’t I am sure they would subconsciously discriminate against people who might cause them extra anxiety. You are often dealing with a fairly bureaucratic type of person who sees things black and white and may not be so compassionate or even care; unlike say our editor.

I should mention that I was referring to private recruiting companies when writing “employment agency”. Not the government funded ones which Centerlink send you to.

And thanks eyeLikeCarrots. I’ll check that out. I think I’ve read that before though.

Urbanadventure, if you know you can do the jobs just chalk it down to market conditions.

One of the Drinking Chix is in HR for a large department. Since GFC the number of good candidates applying for permanent APS jobs has been through the roof. Examples: 60+ applications for a tech EL1 before Christmas, 40+ for another similar role in January. And every single one met the selection criteria. I don’t care what ‘self-help’ gurus say about making your application stand out from a crowd, with that many competitors it comes down to luck.

On the upside, the economy is picking up. Contractors looking for a GFC shelter will head back to the finance sector. As long as the Budget is not horrendous I’m sure you’ll get picked up before July.

‘re applying for jobs you know you can do

The APS is changing over to the the private sector system of “it’s not what you know but who you know”. You will notice that few job descriptions call for any qualifications. This is evident in the IT areas of nearly every department where there are even EL1 people with no IT technical skills. When people with IT skills come along they are hounded out of the APS by supervisors who feel threatened.

Not sure if this will be a great help but I think it assisted me when applying for my first APS job.

http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications07/crackingthecode.htm