

A resume? A cover letter? What else is there? I’m glad you’re here to ask those questions. Find out what a job application is, what it includes, and how to write one to land a job.
Oh boy…
Trying to get a job? I feel you.
“How to apply for a job?” “Do I have everything?” “Is this everything ready to send?” and thousands of other things.
You can easily get disheartened if you don’t know much about a job application.
But worry not.
You’ll not only feel ready to apply for a job, but you’ll barely recognise yourself with the confidence that you’ve gained with this article.
This guide will show you:
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Jordan McBride
Payroll Officer
123-456-7890
jordanmcbride@email.com
linkedin.com/in/jordanmcbride
Personal Statement
Multilingual payroll officer with 5+ years of experience and a knack for numbers. Critical thinker with viable solutions to deeply seated problems. At PayMe, reduced the risk of data breach by 26%. Active listener with showing communication skills. Collaborated on the tax regulations awareness week, reducing the number of ad hoc requests by 17% per month.
Experience
Payroll Officer
PayMe Outsourcing Co., Sydney, NSW
October 2017–Present
Key Achievement: Collaborated with the HR department on the tax awareness project, lowering the number of ad hoc requests by 17% per month.
Junior Payroll Clerk
Your Account, Sydney, NSW
August 2016–September 2017
Education
Bachelor (Hons) of Business Administration
University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW
2016
Skills
Software
Languages
Jump through sections with the below list of contents:
A job application gathers information about your performance to date, says how your skills and qualifications respond to particular selection criteria, and presents your motivation to join the company. The job application form is usually a letter, email, or online form.
Employers aren’t fond of lazy blobs that provide incomplete information in their job applications, so rule number one: always double-check if you’ve got everything ready.
And that is:
What is a resume? It belongs to job applications like Vegemite on toast.
Resumes make the sandwich as they hold your relevant qualifications and career progress together, which is precisely the information your potential employer needs to sink their teeth into.
To make your employer go mmmm with their mouth full, follow these simple steps on how to make a resume:
ProTip: If the job application needs you to give away referees, two is the go-for number. But first, ask the people you’ve chosen for being your references whether they’re OK with that.
When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.
When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.
It’s a part of a job application that employers read first, just like one would do with the IKEA assembly instructions (although recruiters can actually figure out what they’re working on once they’re done).
So—
Employers need to know who they’re dealing with. They also need to know what skill set you’ll bring along and what benefits they get from having you onboard. That’s the reason why you need to make a big entrance with your cover letter.
Do you know how to write such a cover letter? Here’s the basic step by step formula:
Pro Tip: Include an enclosure to mention the resume and supporting documentation, such as licences, transcripts, or diplomas if your employer’s request to see them.
Selection criteria are knowledge, skills, qualifications, or experience and qualities you must possess to be considered for a position. Your task is to fill out an online form or write a page statement referring to each criterion and explaining how you meet them. Hiring managers used this evaluation tactic to weed out the best candidates out of thousands of job applications.
Now, imagine this—
You’re walking into a black-tie event (as noted in the invitation) wearing smart casual, and you think a “sorry” will do?
Not in your dreams, it won’t!
Recruiters scrutinise your answers to the key selection criteria to make sure you meet every single of the requirements, which can involve certain knowledge, various types of skills, qualifications, or experience. For example:
Knowledge Criterion: Understanding of the sales funnel.
Technical Skills Criterion: Proficiency in using the Power BI application.
Qualifications Criterion: Preferably a Business Administration degree.
Experience Criterion: A minimum of two or three years experience as a database administrator.
Depending on the kind of job you’re applying for—in the public or private sector—you may encounter employers asking for selection criteria statements to be either an individual document or part of an online form.
But worry not—the contents are the same in each case.
Selection criteria set grounds for the entire recruitment process. They can be listed or weaved into the job description. Your job is to find them and respond to EACH using the STAR method that stands for Situation–Task–Action–Result:
Follow that pattern with every answer, and you’ll be right.
Pro Tip: If you’re writing a cold job application email, as in not responding to a particular job posting, make it clear you’re available for an interview. Say why you’re applying to this specific company and share your contact details in a visible place. Do not duplicate the contents of your cover letter to the email body no matter what.
Knowing what a job application involves is one thing.
Writing it is another.
You need to consider several steps when you decide to apply somewhere.
What you need to start with is to—
You’re still asking yourself: “Who am I?” and the answers aren’t showing?
After all, you’re not picking a restaurant to go out and eat, so Google listings may not have all the answers this time.
Choosing a career path can be easy if you know the right way to do so.
First, think about all your strengths and consider your weak spots. If you’ve earned some experience already, keep in mind the situations where you displayed some of it.
Second, ask the others—your family, friends, or a counsellor—what they think. Cross-check how you see yourself with how others see you.
And third—
Not every job posting will appeal to you.
And that’s completely fine!
What counts is that you keep looking and don’t let yourself get intimidated by the employer’s requirements in the job ad.
You don’t have to check all the boxes. But you also may not even realise that you do in the first place!
When doing the job search, try digging deeper into what skillset you’ve built throughout the years at school, doing voluntary work, having short or long term internships, or just by doing some odd, part-time jobs. Everything counts at an equally important level.
Once you’re set to pursue several jobs (it’s always best to have alternatives), reread the job ads to find keywords.
Here’s where selection criteria come into play.
Employers may or may not write them explicitly. If they don’t, seek words and phrases that repeat. Those are the qualifications and qualities you need to pay special attention to and address directly with your resume, cover letter, and statement answering the key selection criteria.
The Applicant Tracking System will look for those keywords.
If you don’t include them in your job application, recruiters won’t have the chance even to take a glance at your documents for a simple reason: you won’t pass the ATS test and end up in a black hole of unread applications.
So rule number two: always tailor your job application to the job description.
That'll be quick.
If your potential employer asks you to fill out an online form, don’t miss a single field.
If your potential employer asks you about things you don’t quite understand, request further instructions.
And if your potential employer asks you to attach a cover letter, just do it.
So that’s that.
Pro Tip: Don’t scratch your head when one employer asks you to prepare a CV for your job application and the other a resume. They’re the same documents in Australia.
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
Prepare for some recap:
And that’s everything about the job application.
Please tell us—
Do you have questions about the job application after reading the article? Do you track your job application and who you sent them to? How do you feel about coming up with answers to selection criteria as part of the job application?
Give us a shout in the comments! Let’s get the conversation rolling.
Ahem. Hack. Oh, dusties! And I mean your resume, not the old liquors on the back shelf. Refresh your bartender resume and serve the cocktails to the masses.
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