Here’s a sample question and SAO response that links back to the selection criteria:
Position: Customer Liaison Officer
Selection Criteria: Excellent written communication skills, previous experience in a customer service role, ability to provide specialist advice and information
Question: Tell us about a time you have improved the provision of information to a customer or stakeholder.
Situation: As Customer Service Officer at XYZ organisation I was responsible for keeping all community members up to date with changes to legislation. A survey of community members showed that only 45% felt they understood legislation changes.
Action: I created a weekly Fact Sheet to provide information on the changes, which was emailed to members each Friday. I summarised the changes, with dot points of how each change impacted our operations. I used plain English and avoided jargon where possible..
Outcome: A follow up survey showed that 75% of members understood the changes 3 months after the implementation of the Fact Sheet – an increase in 30%.
Role specific/technical questions are designed to seek more information about your technical capacity. These questions may be behavioural and seek actual examples, or may ask you to talk about how you would approach a situation.
An example is “What steps would you take when assessing a new customer form?” or “Tell us about your understanding of the workplace health and safety legislation in Tasmania”.
You should prepare for these questions in the same manner as you prepare for the behavioural questions and have specific examples that demonstrate how you meet the selection criteria.