How to Write a Government Resume That Gets You Shortlisted

Your resume is the first thing a selection panel sees. In the APS, it's also the first thing an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) scans. Get it wrong, and your application never reaches human eyes.

This guide covers exactly how to write an APS resume that passes the ATS, impresses the panel, and gets you shortlisted. We'll cover the differences from private sector resumes, the right format for PageUp, and level-specific strategies from APS 3 through EL 2.

How an APS Resume Is Different

If you're coming from the private sector, you need to unlearn some habits. APS resumes are fundamentally different in several ways:

Capability Alignment Is Mandatory

Government roles are assessed against the APS Work Level Standards and the Integrated Leadership System (ILS). Your resume must demonstrate capability against these frameworks — not just list your responsibilities.

STAR-Driven Achievements

APS applications rely heavily on STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) examples to demonstrate behavioural competence. Private sector resumes can be more loosely structured; government resumes need evidence-based achievement statements.

The PageUp ATS

Most APS agencies use PageUp as their applicant tracking system. PageUp performs literal keyword matching — not semantic matching. If the job ad says "stakeholder engagement," your resume must contain the exact phrase "stakeholder engagement" — not "relationship management" or "client liaison."

No Flashy Design

Government recruiters want clarity, consistency, and precision. Excessively creative formatting, graphics, or informal wording is inappropriate. Clean, text-focused documents are expected.

Public Service Framing

Hiring panels want to understand your ability to improve processes, deliver services, strengthen compliance, manage risk, and contribute to organisational goals — framed in public service terms, not commercial language.

The Right Format: What PageUp Wants

Getting past the ATS is the first hurdle. Here's what works:

File Format

• Submit as .docx (Word document) wherever possible — PageUp parses Word more reliably than PDFs
• If PDF is required, export directly from Word, not from design software
• Name your file: Firstname-Lastname-Resume-APS-RoleTitle.docx

Layout

• Single-column layout — clean and linear
• Standard headings: Work Experience, Education, Skills, Professional Development
• Fonts: Arial, Calibri, or Georgia at 10-12pt
• Margins: 2cm or wider

What to Avoid

• Tables, multiple columns, text boxes — PageUp reads linearly and these break the flow
• Headers and footers — PageUp may not read contact details placed there
• Decorative fonts, icons, embedded images
• Photos, graphics, or colour backgrounds
• Overly designed templates from Canva or similar tools

Length by Level

Remove roles older than 15 years unless directly relevant. Focus on the most recent 10 years.

What to Include

Personal Details

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number
• LinkedIn profile (optional but recommended)

Do NOT include: Age, gender, marital status, photo, date of birth, nationality

Professional Profile (Top of Document)

Open with a direct statement of your most relevant capability. This is a condensed case for your merit — not a biography.

Example for APS 5:

Policy officer with four years' experience in the Australian Public Service. Skilled in stakeholder engagement, policy analysis, and program delivery. Led the development of a new consultation framework adopted across three divisions, resulting in a 40% reduction in processing time.

Why this works: It names the level, years of experience, key capabilities, and a specific achievement — all in three sentences.

Key Capabilities Section

Include 8-12 capabilities aligned with the ILS framework and the specific job advertisement. Use the exact phrases from the ad.

Example:

• Stakeholder engagement and consultation
• Policy analysis and development
• Project coordination and delivery
• Written and verbal communication
• Data analysis and reporting
• Risk identification and management
• Process improvement
• Team collaboration and mentoring

Employment History

For each role, include:

1. Position title — use the actual title, not a private sector equivalent
2. Organisation name — full name, not abbreviations
3. Dates of employment — month/year to month/year
4. Brief overview of responsibilities — 2-3 sentences
5. STAR-based achievements — 2-4 specific achievements per role

Weak: "Responsible for managing stakeholders and delivering projects."

Strong: "Led a cross-divisional project team to deliver a revised procurement framework three weeks ahead of schedule. Conducted 15 stakeholder consultations across six agencies, synthesising findings into a departmental brief that informed the Minister's decision. Commended by the Deputy Secretary for the quality of the analysis."

Education and Certifications

• Degrees, diplomas, certificates
• Relevant professional development
• Include the institution and year of completion

Additional Information

• Security clearances held (e.g., Baseline, NV1)
• Industry memberships
• Software proficiency (especially systems named in the ad: SAP, TRIM, Salesforce, Power BI)
• Languages spoken
• Awards or commendations

Referees

Include referees on your CV with:

• Full name
• Position title
• Organisation
• Email and phone number
• Note any sensitivities (e.g., "Please do not contact unless I am in serious contention")

The APSC officially recommends including referees within the CV itself. At least one should be a current or recent supervisor.

Level-Specific Strategies

APS 3-4 (Entry Level): 2-3 Pages

At this level, panels are looking for potential and foundational skills. You don't need extensive experience — you need to show you can learn, follow direction, and deliver quality work.

What to highlight:

• Customer service, administration, data entry, records management
• Written and verbal communication
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Attention to detail and reliability
• Willingness to learn and take direction

Use Work Level Standards language: "works under direction," "follows established procedures," "contributes to team outcomes"

If you're a graduate or career changer:

• Lead with education and relevant coursework
• Include internships, placements, volunteer work, and part-time jobs
• Highlight university projects that demonstrate research, analysis, and communication
• Use the Key Skills section to frame even small achievements with the CAR method (Challenge, Action, Result)
• Keep to 2 pages maximum

APS 5-6 (Mid Level): 2-4 Pages

At this level, you need demonstrated experience with measurable achievements. Panels want to see you can exercise independent judgement and manage your own workload.

What to highlight:

• Project coordination and management
• Stakeholder engagement and consultation
• Policy analysis and development
• Report writing and brief preparation
• Risk identification and management
• Process improvement initiatives
• Mentoring junior staff
• Budget tracking

Use Work Level Standards language: "exercising a degree of independent judgment," "providing advice and analysis," "contributing to team and branch outcomes"

APS 6 specifically: Show you can work with limited direction, manage competing priorities, and provide subject matter expertise. Include any acting or higher duties periods.

EL 1-EL 2 (Executive Level): 3-5 Pages

At this level, you need strategic leadership evidence. Panels want to see you can influence decisions, manage complex stakeholder relationships, and drive organisational outcomes.

What to highlight:

• Strategic planning and organisational leadership
• Change management and driving transformation
• Ministerial and secretariat support
• Whole-of-government coordination
• People management and team development
• Complex program delivery
• Governance and compliance frameworks
• Budget and resource management

Use ILS language at full depth: "Inspires a sense of purpose and direction," "Builds organisational capability and responsiveness," "Cultivates Productive Working Relationships"

EL 2 specifically: Show evidence of whole-of-division accountability, workforce direction, and translating government priorities into organisational performance.

Translating Private Sector Experience

Connect your genuine experience to the vacancy's requirements while keeping the facts unchanged. Preserve your actual employer, job title, customers, responsibilities, decision authority and outcomes. A commercial achievement can demonstrate a relevant capability without becoming a government achievement.

Show the capability in the same facts

The following example is fictional.

Original wording: "Led customer research across 16 stakeholder groups. Turned findings into a service redesign brief that secured executive sponsorship and funding."

Clearer evidence: "I led customer research across 16 stakeholder groups and prepared a service redesign brief using the findings. The brief secured executive sponsorship and funding. This demonstrates research, analysis and communication relevant to the advertised role."

The second version retains the setting and outcome. It does not turn customer research into community consultation, executive approval into a Minister's decision, or commercial work into policy development. Only include the explanation of your contribution if it is true of your work.

Use the vacancy's capability terms where your evidence supports them. A matching word alone does not demonstrate suitability, and private-sector seniority does not establish an equivalent APS classification.

For more fictional before-and-after examples and a requirement-to-evidence exercise, see translating private-sector experience into a government application.

Handling Employment Gaps

The APSC explicitly states: "You should look to explain any gaps in employment."

How to handle gaps:

• Be honest but brief
• Frame gaps positively: "Career break for family responsibilities," "Full-time study," "Professional development and upskilling"
• If you did volunteer work, freelance, or study during the gap, include it
• Don't draw excessive attention — place the explanation in context and move on

Common Mistakes That Get Your Resume Binned

1. Using a generic resume — tailor every application to the specific role and agency
2. Listing duties instead of achievements — assessors want to see how you solved problems and delivered value
3. Poor formatting — excessive graphics, tables, columns, or text boxes break PageUp parsing
4. Not using STAR methodology — achievement statements need context, actions, and quantified results
5. Not targeting keywords — use exact phrases from the job description and capability framework
6. Writing too much or too little — detail is needed but clarity and relevance matter more than length
7. Including irrelevant personal details — no photo, DOB, gender, or marital status
8. Using team language for individual contributions — the APS merit principle requires demonstrating YOUR capability
9. Paraphrasing instead of using exact phrases — "manages stakeholder relationships" is not the same as "stakeholder engagement" to PageUp
10. Putting contact details in headers/footers — PageUp may not read them

Action Verbs for APS Resumes

Use these verbs to describe your achievements:

Leadership: led, directed, managed, coordinated, oversaw, supervised, guided

Analysis: analysed, assessed, evaluated, reviewed, investigated, researched, interpreted

Communication: advised, briefed, consulted, engaged, facilitated, negotiated, presented, drafted

Delivery: achieved, delivered, implemented, established, introduced, launched, completed

Improvement: enhanced, improved, streamlined, optimised, strengthened, reformed, transformed

Creation: developed, designed, created, built, formulated, produced, authored

The Pitch: Your CV's Essential Partner

Your resume alone won't get you an APS job. Most applications also require a written pitch (1-2 pages) or selection criteria response that demonstrates your capabilities with specific STAR examples.

The APSC says: "Most of the time, your CV alone will not be enough to get you an APS job."

Your CV shows your career history. Your pitch shows how that history makes you the right person for this specific role. Together, they make your case for merit.

How Govy Can Help

Govy's AI-powered tools can help you:

• Generate a government-ready resume based on your existing experience
• Translate private sector language into APS capability terms
• Tailor your CV to specific job advertisements with the right keywords
• Write your pitch with structured STAR examples

Quick Reference: APS Resume Checklist

Before you submit:

• CV is 2-6 pages (appropriate for your level)
• Single-column layout with standard fonts (Arial, Calibri, Georgia)
• No tables, text boxes, columns, headers, or footers
• Submitted as .docx (not PDF)
• Professional profile at the top with key capabilities
• Employment history with STAR-based achievements
• Keywords from the job ad appear exactly as written
• Referees included with contact details
• No personal details (photo, DOB, gender, marital status)
• Employment gaps explained
• File named: Firstname-Lastname-Resume-APS-RoleTitle.docx
• Proofread for spelling and grammar

Sources: APSC Cracking the Code, PS Interview Coach (March 2026), Government Resumes Australia (November 2025), Resumes To Impress (March 2025).