Ethics and the professional writer

Why don’t you write selection criteria?

Once upon a time, when dinosaurs ruled the earth, we wrote government and NGO selection criteria.

We charged $40.00 per criteria. We didn’t write many in Adelaide because of the price. They were a lot of work and I had some ethical issues with them.

I stopped writing them for two reasons: a senior recruiter in the Australian Public Service said they wanted – she used the word “demanded” – the applicant to write them, not a professional writer.

Selection criteria has a subjective component. The employer wants to read the lived experience of the applicant.

The other reason is government recruiters can tell when an applicant has hired a professional writer.

Here is a link to the APS which shows how to write government selection criteria: https://www.apsc.gov.au/working-aps/joining-aps/cracking-code/3-applying-aps-job-cracking-code

If you want it edited or some advice, I can help out. But remember, we don’t write selection criteria.

Put your best foot forward

Malcolm builds expert resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles, which unleash an unbeatable business case to promote you as a ‘must have’ asset to an employer.