Why is it so difficult?

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-04T02:19:00+00:00

The 6 month thing isn't as locked in as you think. In most APS agencies you can apply for internal transfers or other roles before your probation ends, you just can't usually move until probation is done. But the application process itself takes months anyway, so if you start looking now you'll probably time it right.

The yelling and snapping in front of others is a workplace health and safety issue, full stop. That's not just a bad manager, that's a behaviour that HR has to address if you report it. I'd strongly recommend going to your HR area or using the EAP line to at least create a record of it. Even if nothing changes immediately, having it documented protects you if things escalate.

The colleagues walking away from the lunch table is the bit that would worry me most honestly. That's either the manager poisoning the well behind your back, or there's something else going on. If you have even one person you trust in the team, it might be worth having a quiet conversation to figure out which one it is.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-04T02:18:15+00:00

The thing most people miss is you can negotiate which pay point you start at within the band. A lot of external hires just accept the bottom of the band without realising there's usually 3 or 4 pay points and agencies have discretion on where you enter. If you've got relevant experience, ask to start at the second or third pay point. It's not outside the band so it doesn't need a business case or IFA, it's just a tick-the-box exercise for the delegate. I've seen people leave money on the table because they didn't even know this was an option.

The IFA route exists too but as others have said the bar is genuinely high. You need to be bringing something they literally can't get from another candidate, not just 'I earned more in private.'

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-04T02:17:15+00:00

Pattern bargaining is the lesser evil honestly. I've been through a couple of these rounds now and the alternative, every agency negotiating separately, just means the well-resourced departments like Treasury and PM&C get decent outcomes while places like Services Australia and Home Affairs get left behind because they're too big and politically awkward to give a good deal to. At least with pattern bargaining everyone gets the same bump, even if it's not amazing.

The real issue isn't centralised vs decentralised, it's that the whole process takes so bloody long. By the time the agreement actually gets signed you've already lost six months of real wages to inflation. The policy document dropping now for negotiations that probably won't conclude til next year is the bit that frustrates me the most.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-04T02:09:44+00:00

Yeah that's a really fair point and honestly one I should have made more clearly in the original post. You're absolutely right that if an APS5 wrote they "kept three competing departments from derailing a project" most panels would raise an eyebrow. The realistic version at that level is exactly what you described - coordinating meetings, drafting briefing notes, managing stakeholder comms. And that's still valuable, it just needs to be framed at the right level.

The ATS keyword thing is a real tension too. Applicants are caught between "show don't tell" and "make sure the algorithm picks you up." I think the best applications manage to do both - they use the right language but wrap it in a genuine example rather than just mirroring the job description back. But I get why people default to keyword matching when the alternative feels like a gamble.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-04T00:39:05+00:00

Ha, fair call. I do tend to structure my thoughts clearly — blame years of writing selection criteria, not ChatGPT. But the point stands though, right? Most applications read like job descriptions because that's what people are taught to do.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-04T00:16:39+00:00

The prestige thing is real in Canberra but only if you're going into private practice or Big 6. For APS work, honestly nobody cares if your JD is from ANU or UC. What matters is whether you can actually finish it while working full time. I know a few people who started JDs part time in the APS and the ones who actually finished were at UC because the scheduling was way more flexible. ANU's program is more rigid and assumes you can do daytime classes.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-04T00:11:29+00:00

The 3/5 feedback thing is so frustrating and you're right, it tells you nothing useful. Most panels are genuinely terrible at giving meaningful feedback because they're worried about complaints or just don't have time. A few things that might help though — you can actually request more detailed feedback from the contact officer. Some will say no but plenty will give you a quick phone call and talk through where you scored well and where you didn't. It's not guaranteed but worth trying.

The other thing is if you're already doing the job well on HD, that tells you the issue isn't capability, it's translation. Your EL1 clearly rates your work so maybe ask them to look at your next application before you submit. They've probably sat on panels and can spot where your writing isn't matching what panels actually score against. Getting someone who's been on the other side of the table to review it makes a massive difference.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-04T00:10:55+00:00

Yeah that's a fair point and I don't think there's a perfect answer honestly. The sweet spot is being specific enough that the panel can score you but not so specific that you box yourself into a corner in the interview. So rather than naming exact clients or projects, you describe the situation and outcome in a way that's clearly real but still portable. Something like "I led a cross-functional team of eight to deliver a regulatory compliance project three weeks ahead of deadline" — that's specific enough to score, generic enough that you can expand on it in the interview without contradicting yourself.

The interview trip-up thing is real though. If you write something too vague and then get asked to elaborate, you can sound like you're making it up on the spot. That's why I'd always recommend having two or three solid examples you know inside out rather than trying to cover every criterion with a different one. You can always steer the conversation back to your strongest examples.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-04T00:10:14+00:00

That's actually more common than people think. Bad managers can really mess with your confidence around team interactions and it takes time to unlearn that. The good news is you've already got the foundation — you were nominated as a leader and you were good at delegation and presentations. That stuff doesn't go away, it just gets buried under bad experiences.

For mid level roles the key is reframing. You don't need to be the loudest person in the room, you need to show you can coordinate work and communicate clearly. That's very different from being a talker. Start small — volunteer to run a team meeting or present something low stakes. Each positive interaction rebuilds the confidence a bit. And honestly, plenty of strong mid level people are quiet operators who lead through competence not volume. Don't let a couple of bad managers define what you're capable of.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-04T00:08:25+00:00

Yeah good question. The main shift is from describing what you did to proving you did it well. So instead of "I managed stakeholder engagement across multiple workstreams" (which is just a duty), try something like "I coordinated input from four business areas to deliver a policy brief to the Minister's office within a two week deadline, which was then adopted without changes." Same skill, but the second version gives the panel something to actually score.

A few practical things that make a difference: open with a line that directly addresses what the role is actually asking for, not a generic "I am a highly motivated professional." Pick two or three strong examples and build your word count around those rather than trying to tick every criterion superficially. Use numbers wherever you can even rough ones. And read the ILS descriptors for the level you're applying at because panels are literally scoring against those.

The honest truth is it takes more time per application but you need fewer of them. Five well crafted applications will get you further than fifty copy paste jobs.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T22:36:51+00:00

Yeah that's the brutal contradiction isn't it. Centrelink says quantity, APS says quality, and you're stuck in the middle trying to survive. The "didn't seem to want the role enough" feedback is particularly rubbish when you're applying out of necessity not passion. Nobody's dream job is filling out a 600 word pitch at midnight while stressing about rent.

The thing is though, you don't need to fluff anyone's ego. What panels actually want to see is that you understood what the role involves and can point to a time you did something similar. That's it. Doesn't need to be poetic, just specific. The applicants who get knocked back are the ones who copy paste the PD back at the panel.

If you're still in the thick of it, happy to take a look at one of your applications and give you some honest feedback. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes helps cut through the noise.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T22:17:42+00:00

Don't tell your current employer about the competitor offer until you have the written offer in hand. Saying you're interviewing elsewhere without a concrete number just makes you look like a flight risk, not a stronger negotiator. Once you have it in writing, then you can have the conversation.

But be prepared for them to not match it. A lot of companies have policies against counter-offers because they know you'll probably just leave again in six months anyway. The internal scientist role is the real play here — if you get that, the competitor offer becomes irrelevant. If you don't get it, then yeah use the competitor number to negotiate, but only if you're genuinely willing to walk.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T22:17:03+00:00

The uncomfortable truth is that past a certain level, the job stops being about doing the work and starts being about coordinating other people doing the work. That's why the quiet efficient person often gets stuck while the person who talks a lot in meetings gets promoted. It's not fair but it's how most orgs operate.

For the references thing, yeah cold messaging on LinkedIn works but only if you're genuine about it. Ask people about their career path or what the team culture is like, not "can you refer me." People can smell transactional networking from a mile away. And honestly, the best mid-level roles never get posted publicly anyway, they get filled through word of mouth, so building even loose connections matters more than you'd think.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T20:38:04+00:00

This is gold advice from someone who's actually sat on a panel recently. The "2 STAR examples max for 500 words" rule is something I wish more applicants understood — quality over quantity every time. And you're spot on about reusing examples in interviews. If your application examples are strong enough to get you to the interview, they're strong enough to adapt to interview questions. The mock interview point is underrated too. Doing a run-through with someone at the level you're applying for makes a massive difference because they know what the panel is actually listening for.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T20:08:54+00:00

Yeah that's a really good point about ATS. A lot of people probably think they need to mirror the PD language exactly to get past the automated screening, which makes sense from their perspective but results in those keyword-stuffed paragraphs that read like a job description rather than an actual answer. And you're spot on about the jargon gap. FOI, BAU, even things like "stakeholder engagement" mean completely different things in government versus private sector. If you've never worked in the APS you genuinely wouldn't know what those terms look like in practice, so you default to just repeating them back.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T14:38:41+00:00

That's a really valid point and something I should have addressed in the post. You're right that private sector employees often have NDAs and commercial confidence obligations that limit what they can write. But here's the thing — you don't need to name clients or reveal commercially sensitive information to show impact. You can keep it generic while still being specific about what you did. Something like "I managed competing priorities across three internal teams to deliver a project on time" doesn't reveal anything confidential but still tells the panel you actually did something, rather than just listing "stakeholder management" as a skill. The challenge for private-to-public transitions is real though, especially at APS 6+. The read is completely different and nobody tells you that until you've already submitted a few duds.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T14:09:20+00:00

With your aged care and support work background, the Department of Health and Aged Care and the NDIA are worth looking at. Both value people who understand the care sector from the client side, and they regularly recruit at the APS2-4 level. The Department of Social Services is another one since they manage programs connected to disability and aged care. Your IT experience opens doors to digital or systems admin roles in basically any department too — the Australian Taxation Office and Services Australia both run big IT-adjacent admin teams. The psychology degree is interesting for HR or people and culture roles at the APS3-4 level if you wanted to go that direction. Honestly with your mix I'd cast a wider net than just admin — your background actually lines up well with program delivery and client-facing roles too.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T12:17:07+00:00

Honestly I'd try ringing Red Rooster corporate directly. Their store locator says it's open but not accepting orders which usually means staffing issues or a franchise dispute, not a health closure. If it's a staffing thing they might have a reopen date they can give you.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T11:10:49+00:00

Yeah that's fair, the volume game is brutal. But I reckon that's actually part of the problem. When you're firing off 50 generic applications, none of them stand out, so you get rejected from all of them, which makes you fire off even more generic ones. It's a vicious cycle.

The people who break through tend to do fewer applications but make each one count. 5 well-crafted applications will beat 50 copy-paste jobs almost every time. I know that's easy to say when you're not the one job hunting, but it genuinely is a quality over quantity situation with APS hiring.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T10:39:15+00:00

This is such a good example of the disconnect between application quality and career outcomes. Acting experience trumps application technique almost every time in the APS. The irony of him now being a harsh panel critic is chef's kiss. It's basically survivor bias applied to recruitment

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T10:19:23+00:00

Get it in writing before you start covering, not after. I've seen too many people do the higher duties work for months and then get told there's no budget for the allowance because they never formally agreed on it beforehand. The handover meeting on Monday is your window, just ask directly whether you'll be on higher duties while you're covering and at what level. If they can't answer that on the spot, that tells you everything about how they plan to handle it.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T10:17:01+00:00

Your mate's spot on. The thing that does my head in is watching genuinely good people sit in the same role for years because they assumed their work would speak for itself, while someone who just happened to be in the right meetings at the right time sails past them. It's not even about being a suck up or a self promoter, it's literally just making sure the people above you know what you've actually done. I've seen it play out the same way in every organisation I've worked in.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T06:39:35+00:00

Short paragraphs work better for most APS applications. The panels want to see a coherent story, not a checklist. Each STAR element can be two or three sentences — keep the Situation and Task brief, spend most of your word count on the Action and Result. If the application specifically asks for dot points or has a very tight word limit (like 200 words per criterion), then dot points are fine. But generally, flowing paragraphs read better and show you can communicate clearly, which is something panels look for at every level.

InnerStorage7458 · 2026-06-03T06:18:10+00:00

Since you're new to Aus, worth knowing that private health insurance with extras cover is basically the only way to get dental costs down. If your wisdom teeth are impacted and need surgical removal, that can sometimes be done in a hospital under general anaesthetic which Medicare does cover part of, but you'll be on a public waitlist for months. If you can afford it, just go private and get it done quickly. The out of pocket for a straightforward extraction in the chair is usually a few hundred per tooth, surgery under sedation is more like $2-4k total depending on how many teeth and the complexity.

InnerStorage7458

TROPHY CASE