Selection criteria (selcrit) are a list of essential and desirable skills,
traits, experience and
credentials that help distinguish the most suitable applicant for a job vacancy.
It is essential that selection criteria covers all the vital skills required for a position, does not include unnecessary or potentially discriminatory criteria, and is expressed in clear, concise and unambigious terms. It should disuade unqualified candidates from making an application while not being too lengthy or complicated that potentially good candidates are turned off. The intention is to standardise and make accountable a recruitment process when the candidates who apply are likely to come from a variety of backgrounds, and prevent any interference of bias from a recruitment panel.
Candidates are required to respond to selection criteria by citing examples in their work or private life when they used their expertise to successfully complete tasks. Employers are not expected to take at face value statements from a candidate can they can do a particular job if it is not illustrated with examples.
Wishy washy statements that on closer examination prove nothing can rule out a candidate:
I was involved in the Windows 2003 upgrade... this does not explicitly state that the candidate applied his or her knowledge to a problem.
I have an understanding of tax invoicing procedures... well, I have an understanding of sumo wrestling but that doesn't mean I can apply this knowledge competitively.
I was marketing coordinator... did you manage a sales team or merely sit in the office updating an Excel spreadsheet?
Other killers include an excessive use of passive voice, verbosity, irrelevant claims, poor spelling and text that makes it appear the selcrit was copied from a previous job application.