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We’re giving you exclusive access to a teaser lesson from one of Apolitical’s most popular courses: Crafting a Successful Job Application in the Public Service.
Whether you’re getting ready to apply for your next role or just want to prepare for the future, you'll learn the art of writing a standout job application.
Read on for your free lesson on how to write a clear and concise application that gets your point across — including handy tips for using AI to make the process even more efficient.
When you’re writing a job application, concision and clarity are key. You’ve got one shot to show the hiring panel why you’re the right person for the job through the power of your words alone. You’re often limited by short word counts, and you can’t clarify any questions the panel may have about what you’ve written.
In this lesson, we’ll cover a few tips for clear, precise writing.
Expand the boxes below to learn a few top tips for making your application clear and easy to read.
It can be easy to slip into the passive voice — in other words, to say things like, “The budget was approved.” But the hiring manager or panel want to know what you did and what your experiences are. Use the active voice to make it clear what your role in the outcome was: “I successfully advocated for my project and secured budget approval.”
This tip has the added benefit of making your application easier to read, which can help you stand out when a hiring manager is zipping through stacks of applications.
Think about your application from the perspective of the person or people who will read it. In some cases, jargon (or job-specific language) and acronyms will be well understood by the hiring manager — for example, if you’re applying for a promotion within your team or in a similar line of work. If you’re moving into a different team or type of work, the hiring manager may not be familiar with acronyms and jargon from your previous role(s).
If you use an acronym, spell it out the first time. Simplify jargon into easier-to-understand language, so they don’t have to research to figure out what you’re talking about (they likely won’t have time to do additional research, so they may just disregard your application altogether).
Hiring managers will often have to sift through a huge volume of applications, which means they’re essentially skim-reading. Make their jobs easier (and help your application stand out) by making your writing clear and easy to read.
Stick to simple sentence structures rather than having lots of complex clauses. For example, rather than saying, “In order to facilitate positive relationships with our external stakeholders, I diligently monitored the health of the relationship and adapted my strategy in the most effective manner,” try, “I maintained positive connections with external stakeholders by monitoring the relationships and adapting accordingly.”
Speed this up with AI
AI can be a great co-writing and editing tool. You can ask your favourite LLM to “Simplify this paragraph” or “Edit this paragraph so the writing is as clear and concise as possible.”
If there are particular areas of your writing you’d like to work on (for example, using active voice more consistently or checking for jargon), you can prompt it to look for and fix those areas.
Clear and impactful writing helps get your ideas across and ensures that your application stands out (for all the right reasons).
But what comes next?
The full Crafting a Successful Job Application in the Public Service course takes roughly two hours to complete and includes tips and advice relevant to any job application, along with a customisable learning path which allows you to select what you want to learn based on your context. Join thousands of public servants who’ve already taken control of their career progression.
Enrol now and take the full course at your own pace — your next role in government is waiting.
