Western Australia is home to five universities, the University of Western Australia (UWA), Curtin University, Murdoch University, Edith Cowan University (ECU) and the University of Notre Dame Australia. Each one runs its own careers portal and its own online application system, and the exact requirement for a WA university job application can vary from role to role. Underneath those differences, though, sits a shared structure. Most job ads at WA universities are developed around a position description and most roles, whether professional or academic positions, ask you to respond to a set of selection criteria.
Getting this structure right matters more than most applicants expect. Talent teams generally shortlist based on how clearly and specifically you have addressed what was actually asked, not simply on how impressive your career looks on paper. This guide walks through how to apply for a job at a WA university, step by step, from reading the ad through to submitting a complete WA university job application.
How to Apply for a Job at a WA University: Step 1 – Read the Position Description Properly
Before you write a word of your application, read the position description (PD) properly, multiple times if you need to. WA university PDs are usually detailed documents that set out the position purpose, key accountabilities, reporting lines and a classification level. Professional staff roles are classified using a HEW (Higher Education Worker) level, while academic roles are classified from Level A through to Level E, each with its own expectations around teaching, research and leadership.
Pay close attention to which criteria are marked essential and which are desirable. Essential criteria are used to decide who gets shortlisted, while desirable criteria can be the difference between a good application and a standout one. If a PD lists specific systems, frameworks or accreditations, note them down, they will often reappear in the selection criteria section.
Step 2 – Work Out Exactly What Documents You Need for a WA university job application
The combination of documents you need varies by university and sometimes by role, so always check the specific advertisement rather than assuming. Murdoch University’s candidate packs, for example, ask for a covering letter that directly addresses the selection criteria, alongside a comprehensive CV that includes contact details, qualifications and confirmation of your right to work in Australia.
Curtin’s Careers Centre treats selection criteria as a distinct skill, offering a dedicated Challenge module and workbook to help applicants build strong responses. Notre Dame’s careers team refers to selection criteria statements as a standard part of the application process and offers job application assistance covering resumes, cover letters and criteria responses. ECU runs applications through an online application form and UWA requires a cover letter or separate document addressing the selection criteria and resume.
Because the exact requirement, a standalone criteria document, criteria folded into your cover letter, or criteria addressed within your CV, can differ, always confirm what the current ad is asking for before you start writing.
Step 3 – Build a CV That Works for a University Reader
A university CV needs to speak to the reader’s context. For professional staff roles, highlight experience with relevant systems and processes mentioned in the PD, things like student administration platforms, compliance and documentation systems, or CRM and enrolment systems, since these are frequently called out directly in the accountabilities and criteria sections.
For academic roles, make sure your qualifications, teaching experience, research and any relevant professional body memberships are easy to find, since these often map directly onto specific criteria. Keep formatting clean and consistent. University People & Culture teams and panel members are working through a stack of applications, so a CV that is easy to scan, with clear headings and logical structure, will do more for you than one that is dense or overly long.
Step 4 – Write Selection Criteria Responses Using STAR
STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is the most reliable structure for a selection criteria response. Start with a brief situation and task, spend most of your response on the action you took, and finish with a result, ideally a measurable one. UWA is explicit about this last point, encouraging applicants to describe their achievements as success indicators, such as a cost reduced, a process improved, a program delivered or a number of people supported, rather than vague claims.
Here is a short worked example for an academic criterion around research track record and securing funding. Situation and task – an emerging area of enquiry in your discipline lacked a strong funding history, and you needed to build a case for external support. Action – you led a proposal for a competitive grant scheme, brought in two colleagues from different disciplines to improve the rigour of the methodology, and revised the application after early reviewer feedback before resubmitting within the same round. Result – the proposal was successful, securing a grant of $180,000 over two years, one collaborator went on to co-author a resulting journal article, and the funding directly supported the supervision of a postgraduate student through to completion.
Notice that the result includes three separate pieces of measurable evidence, a funding figure, a publication and a completed supervision, rather than one vague claim like the project was a success. Write one response per criterion and avoid stretching a single strong example across every criterion just because it is your best story.
Step 5 – Address Any Career Gaps or Non-Linear Experience
If your career includes parental leave, part-time work, a later start in your field, or any other interruption, WA universities generally want to hear about it rather than have you hide it. UWA’s own guidance specifically invites applicants to describe their achievements relative to their opportunities, acknowledging that someone working part time or returning from leave may have achieved just as much, relative to their circumstances, as someone with an uninterrupted full-time career.
The best approach is brief and factual. State what happened, tie it back to the relevant criterion where you can, and move on. There is no need to over-explain or apologise. Hiring teams are looking for evidence of capability, not a flawless, linear career story.
Step 6 – Write a Cover Letter That Supports Your Application
Your cover letter’s job differs depending on the university. At Murdoch and UWA, the covering letter is where you are expected to directly address the selection criteria, so it needs to do work other than simply introduce you. At other universities, the cover letter can be shorter and more general, with the detailed criteria responses sitting in a separate document.
Either way, keep it to one page, use a professional and factual tone, and avoid repeating your CV word for word. Open by naming the role, briefly explain why you are a strong fit, and close with a clear statement of interest and your availability.
How to Apply for a Job at a WA University: Final Checks Before You Hit Submit
Before you submit, run through a final checklist. Confirm the word or page limit for your criteria responses, since these vary by university and by role. Make sure you have addressed every essential criterion, missing even one is one of the easiest ways to be screened out before the hiring team even considers your experience.
Check the file format requested, some careers teams, including Curtin’s, specifically ask for documents in Word format for review. Confirm you have included any right to work documentation requested, as Notre Dame and other universities require evidence of your legal right to work in Australia. Finally, proofread everything together, your CV/resume, cover letter and criteria responses should tell a consistent story and use consistent dates, titles and terminology throughout.
What Happens After You Submit
Once your WA university job application is in, it goes to a selection committee who will score it against the criteria in the PD. Shortlisting can take a couple of weeks, ECU’s own guidance suggests allowing two to three weeks for this stage. If you are shortlisted, expect interview questions to be developed directly from the same criteria you addressed in writing, so keep a copy of your responses, the role’s PD and job ad and be ready to expand on the examples you used with more detail and context.
Applying for a role at a WA university is as much about structure as it is about experience. Read the PD closely, match your documents to what is actually being asked for, and give your selection criteria responses the same care as your CV. If you would like a second set of eyes on your application before you submit, we offer CV, cover letter and selection criteria reviews for roles across UWA, Curtin, Murdoch, ECU and Notre Dame.
Section 4 – FAQ
Do all five WA universities require a separate document responding to selection criteria?
No, it varies. Murdoch’s candidate packs ask you to address selection criteria within your covering letter rather than as a standalone document, while other WA universities may ask for a separate criteria response or fold it into the online application form. Always check the specific job ad rather than assuming the format from a previous application, since requirements can differ even between roles at the same university. If in doubt, addressing each criterion clearly under its own heading, wherever it sits in your application, is the safest approach.
What does a HEW level mean and why does it matter?
HEW stands for Higher Education Worker, and it is the classification system used across Australian universities to set the pay grade and seniority of professional staff roles, similar to how APS levels work in the public service. A HEW 5 role, for example, sits at a different level of responsibility and pay to a HEW 9 role. Understanding the HEW level of the role you are applying for helps you calibrate how senior your examples and language should be in your selection criteria responses.
Is the process different for academic roles compared to professional staff roles?
Yes, in a few important ways. Academic roles are classified from Level A through to Level E rather than by HEW level, and the selection criteria usually focus on teaching experience, research output, grants and supervision rather than administrative or systems experience. Professional staff selection criteria tend to focus more on operational skills, stakeholder management and specific systems knowledge. Both still benefit from the same STAR approach, but the type of evidence you draw on will look quite different.
How long should my selection criteria responses be?
There is no single answer, since word or page limits vary by university and sometimes by role, so check the specific advertisement or application form first. As a general guide, a well-structured STAR response for one criterion is often somewhere between 150 and 300 words, long enough to give a real example with a measurable result, but short enough that a busy panel member can read it quickly. If no limit is given, aim for clarity over length rather than padding out a response to seem more thorough.
Can I reuse the same CV and criteria responses for multiple WA university applications?
You can reuse the underlying examples, but each application should be tailored to the specific PD and criteria wording rather than copied and pasted. Panels can usually tell when a response has been written for a different role, particularly if terminology or systems mentioned don’t match what is in their own PD. Treat your strongest examples as a bank you can draw from and reshape for each application, rather than a single set of responses you submit unchanged.
What if I don’t have direct higher education experience, can I still apply?
Yes, many of the skills WA universities look for, stakeholder engagement, project coordination, compliance, communication, translate well from other sectors including government, health and corporate environments. Focus your selection criteria responses on the underlying skill and outcome rather than the industry it happened in, and where relevant, briefly explain how that experience applies to a university setting. A well-structured STAR response will usually carry more weight with a panel than industry-specific experience alone.
Contact us today, we’ll love to help you with your WA university job application!
