In the opening scenes of the movie "Gorillas in the Mist" Dian Fossey, played by Sigourney Weaver, follows Louis Leakey out of the crowded lecture hall in which he has just delivered a talk about the plight of the mountain gorilla, and begs him to hire her to work in Africa with these endangered animals.

"Dr Leakey, I work with handicapped children," she tells him with passion in her voice, "I spend a hell of a lot of time trying to get close to people who don't like having anyone around them. I mean, I know I have no formal training but I love animals and I've spent two years in pre-veterinary training."

Leakey tells her that there are other considerations, that liking animals is just not enough, to which she responds, "You just said that you needed someone to take a census of mountain gorillas. What about me? I can count. One, two, three..."

When he says he will think about it, and walks away, she shouts after him, "How long are you going to think about it? 'Til all the gorillas are gone? Dr Leakey you need me, and I want this job. Give me this chance."

In common with many librarians seeking jobs or promotions in today's very competitive work environment, Dian Fossey had displayed admirable tenacity and energy. She had written to Leakey six times, and must have provided a cv (curriculum vitae or résumé), because he remembered that she was a physical therapist. But it was not until she drew the links between her skills and experience and his needs, demonstrated one of the skills that will be critical to carrying out the duties of the position, and displayed passionate interest in both the duties and the responsibilities of the job in a way that demonstrated her focus on outcomes, that she got through to him, and achieved her goal.

The new public sector management rules on merit-based selection now require that all positions have selection criteria which applicants must directly address. Selection must be based on the criteria. Applicants are short-listed solely by assessment of how well they meet the criteria as demonstrated by their applications, and the successful candidate is the one who demonstrates superior skill in the combination of application and interview, with referees checks being used to confirm the selection rather than to aid in it.

There are generally about half-a-dozen criteria. They are derived from the roles and duties of the position and list skills and abilities which are seen as necessary to carry out these roles and duties, and they are always itemised in the information package relating to the job.

Michelle Murphy is not unique. Despite clear directions many apparently well-qualified applicants don't adequately address the selection criteria, and many even fail to do so at all, and I occasionally receive applications in which the candidate has attempted to summarise the selection criterion in one word before attempting to address it. These attempts have universally demonstrated a lack of understanding of the criterion.

It is much safer to quote the full criterion as a heading, and then address it in much the same way as you would an exam question, that is, read the question, understand the question, and then go on to answer it fully, and in a logical fashion.

As Michelle will find out, if she chooses to ask for feedback from the selection panel, applicants who do not follow this simple principle cannot, under terms of public sector standards, be short-listed for interview.

Although most selection criteria are relatively short, they tend not to be straightforward. You are less likely to see a criterion reading: "Ability to communicate" than something along the lines of "Proven high level of skill in effective oral and written communication, consultation, participation in decision making and negotiation."

A classic cv emphasises employment history and usually contains personal details, academic and professional qualifications and affiliations, a chronologically listed career history (often in reverse order), and names of referees.

Applying for a job by addressing selection criteria is a refinement of the functional résumé. A functional résumé is one which emphasises skills rather than chronological work history. This has particular benefits for people wanting to move out of a narrow sphere of operation because it allows easy inclusion of skills acquired other than in paid employment. It also allows gaps in your employment history to be far less striking. Employing these tactics will give your application power even if you are applying for a position for which you are not required to address selection criteria.

Naming and claiming your skills is not easy, so it is not a bad idea to take some time, even before you have a job in mind, to develop what is essentially a new skill. Two things you can do to help you prepare are to rewrite your cv in functional terms and conduct a personal skills audit.

To rewrite your cv in functional terms you need to highlight those aspects of your life and career which are relevant to the sort of job you have in mind, making sure you orient it towards specific achievement rather than duties and responsibilities.

One way to do this is to analyse each position you have held for the broad generic headings under which the responsibilities of the position might fall, and then Group your skills under them.

Depending on your career pattern, the headings you choose might include terms such as Budgeting, Marketing, Training, and Project Management, as well as headings which reflect particular or technical aspects of librarianship.

Cite specific experiences which contributed to your development of these skills and list achievements in every job under these broad generic headings.

Conducting a personal skills audit entails that you have to carefully identify, analyse and list the skills you have developed in your private life, through life experiences, hobbies, and volunteer positions. Don't forget your negative experiences. These often reveal strengths and skills such as ability to analyse facts dispassionately, to take calculated risks, or to keep calm and focussed in adverse conditions.

Both in analysing your professional skills and in identifying your personal skills, pay particular attention to those things you do easily. Just because it seems natural, doesn't mean that it is not a skill. 

When you are ready to apply for a particular job, obtain the information package as quickly as possibly to allow yourself plenty of time to respond. The selection criteria may or may not be weighted, but it is not usual to include the weighting for the criteria in the information package. If possible, find out whether the criteria have do have different weightings. Sometimes, though not always, they are listed in order of importance to the employer. Knowing how criteria are weighted is a guide to the level of importance placed on various skills, and because the questions at interview have to be explicitly linked with the selection criteria, will also give you a guide for your interview preparation.

Read each criterion carefully. Make sure you take note of and understand the difference between, for example "high level skill in ..." and "Proven ability to ...." 

Be careful to address every part of each criterion explicitly. If a criterion is "Proven ability to manage staff and budgets" you need to do much more than talk generally about your management experience. You will need to outline your experience, achievements and skills in managing staff and your experience, achievements and skills in managing budgets.

Make sure you spell out the links between your skills and experience and the employers needs. Provide explicit examples of achievements and experience which support your claim to meet the criterion. Unfortunately, too many librarians either write a lot of text-book drivel, or merely reiterate that they have high level skills without providing one iota of evidence to support their claims. "I have proven ability to manage a budget" will not suffice, nor will it stand up against claims such as "Over the past four years I have managed the collection development budget totally $300,000 per annum. By renegotiating terms with library suppliers I reduced the across the board cost of books by 5%. The amount saved was used to purchase serials, thereby allowing the library to maintain its serial subscriptions at the 1990 level without increasing the serials budget."

By all means provide a copy of your cv, but don't rely on it being read in conjunction with your claims against the selection criteria. While some selection committees do read all documentation provided very carefully, the literature suggests that you can only count on your cv being given about 20 seconds of undivided attention. Treat that part of your application in which you address the selection criteria as the essential document and include all relevant information in it, even if this means repeating information which is in your cv.

It may sound obvious, but make sure your referees are willing to be nominated, and that they have a copy of the selection criteria and can provide an accurate and positive assessment of how you meet them. It is quite disturbing to note the frequency with which applicants nominate referees who are unaware that they have been nominated. I have had the experience, not once, but several times, of being named as a referee for a position in one of my libraries and finding out about it when reading the applications prior to short-listing. It is quite amazing that it is also not unusual to discover that an applicant has nominated a referee who knows little or nothing about the applicant's work performance, or who has little or nothing good to say about the applicant.

A final word: The more you know about the job, and about the role, purpose and goals of the organisation, and of the library, the better you will be able to link your skills and experience to the needs of the employer. This is hard work. You need to do your homework and to carefully target each application.

The hard work will, however, pay off in increasing your chances of being short-listed, in laying the groundwork for a successful interview. It will also contribute to improving the general image of the profession.

  [1] This fictional case-study is based on a number of people's experiences.