Human Resources

Preparing an
Expression of Interest
application
Applicant guide

Prepared by:
Human Resources

Status: Final Version: 1 Date: 11/07/2016

 Table of Contents

1. Purpose ..............................................................................................................3

2. What is an expression of interest application? ..............................................3

3. Preparing your resume .....................................................................................3

3.1. Personal details................................................................................................................. 3

3.2. Career objective (optional)............................................................................................... 3

3.3. Career summary ................................................................................................................ 4

3.4. Education and/or training ................................................................................................ 5

3.5. Membership, accreditations and/or professional affiliations (if relevant) .................. 5

4. General statement addressing qualifications, experience

and capabilities .................................................................................................5

4.1. Qualifications (or education/training) and experience ................................................. 6

4.2. Capabilities ........................................................................................................................ 6

5. Preparing yourself for an interview .................................................................9

6. How will expressions of interest be called for? .............................................9

7. Additional support ..........................................................................................10

8. Further information .........................................................................................10

Warning: uncontrolled when printed.

Authorised by: Director, Human Resources Original Issue: 11/07/2016
Document owner: Manager, HR Business Partnering Current Version: 11/07/2016

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D | RTO Number 4909 Page 2 of 10

 1. Purpose
The purpose of this Applicant Guide is to provide you with:
• knowledge and tools that may assist you in preparing an expression of interest application; and
• hints and tips on preparing yourself for an interview.

2. What is an expression of interest application?

An expression of interest application is used during the implementation of new organisational
structures when an employee must apply for a position within the new organisational structure.
An expression of interest application consists of a:
• brief, current resume (three to five pages); and
• general statement addressing qualifications, capabilities and experience relevant to the position
(approximately 500 words).

3. Preparing your resume

A resume submitted as part of an expression of interest application should have the following content
and structure:
• personal details;
• career objective;
• career summary – responsibilities and/or achievements;
• education and/or training, including licences; and
• membership, accreditations and/or professional affiliations.

Should you require assistance with developing your resume, a template can be downloaded from
Staff > Working at FedUni > Human Resources > Recruitment and selection > Recruitment > Resume
template (docx, 31kb).

Further information on each of the above sections follow below:

3.1. Personal details

Name and contact details.

3.2. Career objective (optional)

This is a short, realistic statement that highlights your strengths. You can also include what you are
looking for in a new position.

Example
A skilled administrator with a Diploma in Business Administration together with ten years’
experience in managing diverse administrative tasks. I am now seeking a position as a Senior
Administrator in which I can utilise my qualifications, knowledge and proficiency within a
dynamic environment that will provide me with new challenges.

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D | RTO Number 4909 Page 3 of 10

 3.3. Career summary
In this section, you should list your responsibilities in previous positions. These are the tasks you
implemented and undertook. You may also want to include how the tasks you implemented and
undertook added value to your position and the organisation – these are called career achievements.

Example
Implemented use of database for conference documentation and records leading to greater
efficiency.
Developed and coordinated a meeting schedule for three committees ensuring committee
members attendance, and timely and accurate preparation and distribution of agendas and
minutes.
Raised purchase orders using the Finance Management System and monitored a number of
purchase orders and expenditure per month.

When looking at these examples, you will note they start with an action word. Some action words you
may wish to use to guide your thoughts are:

Achieved Constructed Generated Organised

Acquired Coordinated Guided Planned

Administered Created Negotiated Solved

Conducted Drafted Obtained Streamlined

It is recommended that you present your career responsibilities and/or achievements in chronological
order, that is organised around the dates you held various positions (starting with most recent position
first).

Example
Executive Assistant to Executive Dean
Faculty of Design | Federation University Australia
January 2008 – present

Responsibilities and achievements

• Coordinate diary of the Executive Dean ensuring appropriate time allocation for
meetings and appointments.
• Monitor work in progress ensuring time for completion of projects and tasks to meet
timeframes and deadlines.

Personal Assistant to Head of School

School of Visual Arts | Australian University for the Arts
April 2000 – December 2007

Responsibilities and achievements

• Coordinate diary of Head of School ensuring appropriate time allocation for meetings and
appointments.
• Deliver client services by meeting and greeting visitors to the School.

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D | RTO Number 4909 Page 4 of 10

 3.4. Education and/or training

List
• Qualifications gained and dates attained.
• Licences.
• Any continuing professional development.

Some tips
• Clearly indicate whether you have completed your qualification.
• As a general rule, do not include subjects or modules studied.
• If you haven’t yet completed your studies, you may want to include the subjects or modules
completed.

3.5. Membership, accreditations and/or professional affiliations (if

relevant)
Name of organisation, dates and level of membership/accreditation.

Tips for preparing your resume

• Only include relevant and essential information – your resume must only be three to five
pages in length.
• Use an easy to read and visually attractive format. Keep your format consistent format.
• Choose an appropriate font and font size, e.g. Arial, 11 pt.
• Only bold and/or underline headings. Do not bold/underline text to emphasise a
particular achievement for example.
• Ensure your facts are correct.
• Have a meticulous friend or colleague read your resume.

4. General statement addressing qualifications,

experience and capabilities
Position descriptions include key selection criteria that define the qualifications, experience,
knowledge, skills and attributes a person needs to perform the position successfully.
You are required to prepare a general statement in which you address your qualifications, experience
and capabilities relevant to the position you are expressing your interest in. This general statement
should be approximately 500 words (that is approximately on page).
In the general statement, you need to provide evidence that you possess the qualifications (or
equivalent education or training), experience and capabilities perform the position by elaborating on
your past experience and providing evidence of your capabilities (that is knowledge, skills and
attributes).

An example for a position with the title of Administrative Officer with the following key selection criteria:
• Relevant diploma qualification with relevant experience or an equivalent combination of relevant
experience and/or education/training.
• Demonstrated organisational and time management skills.

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D | RTO Number 4909 Page 5 of 10

 • Demonstrated communication skills, in particular the ability to draft and proofread a range of
written documents.
• Demonstrated financial processing skills and the capacity to monitor expenditure for projects.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver quality and accurate work on time.

You may wish to structure your general statement as follows:

4.1. Qualifications (or education/training) and experience

State the qualification/s you hold and summarise other training and professional development you
have done.

Example response
I obtained a Certificate IV in Business Administration in 2000. This qualification has provided
me with knowledge and skills on developing and implementing administrative processes.
In addition, I also have approximately 15 years’ experience in providing administrative support
in tertiary education environments to a range of committees, managers and projects.

Alternatively, address your relevant experience and education/training.

Example response
I have approximately 15 years’ experience in providing administrative support in tertiary
education environments. During my career, I have undertaken a range of training and
professional development programs as listed in my resume to advance my knowledge and
skills. In particular, the programs have consolidated my knowledge and skills in developing
committee meeting schedules, preparing agendas and drafting minutes, and monitoring and
following up on work in progress.

4.2. Capabilities
In preparation for addressing your capabilities relevant to the position, read the position description
and in particular the key selection criteria. Consider the capabilities that you have relevant to the
position – you may wish to write these down.
When writing a general statement, the STAR methodology is a useful tool you may wish to consider.

S Situation What position am I expressing an interest in?

TA Tasks and What tasks and solutions have I implemented and what actions
Actions have I taken in the past to demonstrate my capabilities relevant to
the position I am expressing an interest in?

R Results What were the results of my actions and solutions that confirm my
capabilities?

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D | RTO Number 4909 Page 6 of 10

 Using STAR, an example analysis could be:

Situation Expressing interest in Administrative Officer position.

Tasks and Actions • Prepared agendas and drafted minutes for School Student
Engagement Committee.
• Monitored action items following Committee meetings – sent
reminder emails to relevant Committee members reminding of
actions and requesting feedback on completion.
• Proof-read and formatted reports – example of recent report is
School Student Engagement Funding report.
• Monitored expenditure on student engagement activities for
School.
• Developed a process for requesting funding for student
engagement activities – process consists of a form to be
completed and submitted, then availability of funding is
checked and then submitted to Head of School for approval.

Result Timely delivery of administrative support. Also, attention to detail

ensures accuracy in work delivered.

Now that you have unpacked your response to the selection criterion, you need to write a clear and
concise response.

Example response
I have held several positions in which I have been responsible for providing administrative
support. I possess organisational and time management skills which is evidenced by my
ability to monitor action items for the Student Engagement Committee in my current position. I
monitor action items by sending out reminder emails to and requesting feedback from
Committee members. I utilise the task functionality in Outlook to schedule tasks for myself to
follow up with Committee members.
I have well developed written communication skills. In my current and previous positions as
Administrative Officer, I have been responsible for preparing agendas, drafting minutes and
proofreading a range of complex reports, e.g. the School’s Student Engagement Funding
Report.
My written communication skills are complemented by my advanced knowledge of Microsoft
Office which enables me to format documents using functionalities such as headings, indents,
headers and footers.

In my current and past positions, I have been responsible for processing financial transactions
and monitoring expenditure which requires me to demonstrate a working knowledge and
application of financial processing skills. In addition, I have also developed a process for
Student Engagement Leaders in the School to request funding for student engagement
activities. This process consists of a form detailing the type and benefit of the activity and the
amount of funding required. Once this completed form is received, I check whether funding is
available as per the allocated budget and then seek approval from the Head of School.

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D | RTO Number 4909 Page 7 of 10

 My financial processing skills are further evidenced by my ability to monitor student
engagement expenditure against the budget. This is I do by processing all invoices, tracking
journal entries and providing feedback to the School Financial Coordinator on a monthly basis
on expenditure versus budget available.
I pride myself in delivering quality administrative support by providing timely and accurate
services. I pay attention to detail and check my work to ensure accuracy.

A completed general statement may be as follows

I obtained a Certificate IV in Business Administration in 2000. This qualification has provided
me with knowledge and skills on developing and implementing administrative processes.
In addition, I also have approximately 15 years’ experience in providing administrative support
in tertiary education environments to a range of committees, managers and projects.
I possess organisational and time management skills which is evidenced by my ability to
monitor action items for the Student Engagement Committee in my current position. I monitor
action items by sending out reminder emails to and requesting feedback from Committee
members. I utilise the task functionality in Outlook to schedule tasks for myself to follow up
with Committee members.
I have well developed written communication skills. In my current and previous positions as
Administrative Officer, I have been responsible for preparing agendas, drafting minutes and
proofreading a range of complex reports, e.g. the School’s Student Engagement Funding
Report.
My written communication skills are complemented by my advanced knowledge of Microsoft
Office which enables me to format documents using functionalities such as headings, indents,
headers and footers.

In my current and past positions, I have been responsible for processing financial transactions
and monitoring expenditure which requires me to demonstrate a working knowledge and
application of financial processing skills. In addition, I have also developed a process for
Student Engagement Leaders in the School to request funding for student engagement
activities. This process consists of a form detailing the type and benefit of the activity and the
amount of funding required. Once this completed form is received, I check whether funding is
available as per the allocated budget and then seek approval from the Head of School.
My financial processing skills are further evidenced by my ability to monitor student
engagement expenditure against the budget. This is I do by processing all invoices, tracking
journal entries and providing feedback to the School Financial Coordinator on a monthly basis
on expenditure versus budget available.
I pride myself in delivering quality administrative support by providing timely and accurate
services. I pay attention to detail and check my work to ensure accuracy.
Number of words: 348 words.

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D | RTO Number 4909 Page 8 of 10

 Tips on preparing a general statement
• Make sure that you understand the position description and key selection criteria.
• Use STAR to unpack your capabilities relevant to the position and key selection criteria.
• Use action words.
• Avoid using unclear and ambiguous statements, e.g. involved in, some, somewhat, limited.
• Summarise information where possible.
• Check spelling, typos and grammar.
• Stick to 500 words requirements.

5. Preparing yourself for an interview

This section provides some hints and tips on preparing yourself for an interview should you be
required to attend one.

Understand the position you are applying for

Read the position description. Ensure you understand the various responsibilities, reporting
relationships and key selection criteria.

Know yourself
Read your resume and general statement addressing your qualifications, capabilities and experience
relevant to the position. Ensure that you can explain the linkages between your qualifications,
experience, knowledge, skills, attributes and the position.

Prepare possible questions and practice answering these

Based on the position description, prepare some behavioural questions. Practise answering them.

Prepare some questions for the interviewer

Do not ask too many questions – keep it simple.
A possible question – “What are the immediate challenges that I would need to address in this
position?”
Try to stay calm during the interview. Remember, there will always be questions that you are
unprepared for. Stay calm, collect your thoughts and respond when ready and as clearly as possible.
It is okay to admit the question is tough, e.g.: That is a tough question, I will need some time to think
about it.

6. How will expressions of interest be called for?

You will be advised by either your manager or Human Resources to express your interest in vacant
positions. You will also be advised whether a Limited Expression of Interest or Expression of Interest
selection process applies.
You will be provided with a minimum of five working days to submit your resume.

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D | RTO Number 4909 Page 9 of 10

 7. Additional support
The University’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider can assist employees in preparing
their resumes and themselves for interviews. The Career Assist program is offered as part of the
University’s EAP arrangements. For a free confidential conversation about your career and applying
for new positions, please call 1300 OUR EAP (1300 687 327) or 03 8681 2444.
Click here to be taken to the Preparing a Job Application training program available in Moodle.

8. Further information
Further information can be obtained in the University’s Recruitment and Merit Selection Policy and
Procedure, in particular Section 6—Selection Procedures for Positions in Organisational Restructures
—of the Procedure.

CRICOS Provider No. 00103D | RTO Number 4909 Page 10 of 10