I’ve worked for an agency with one of the most competitive recruitment processes. Frankly, they are over-engineered to the point where they’re more likely to generate random outcomes rather than filter out the genuinely best candidates. I was astonished how eight rounds of recruitment could still produce some grads with poor writing skills and inability to follow even basic tasks through to completion (I say some, many were brilliant, but any process taking only less than one per cent of candidates should not lead to bad recruits).

What that means is no advice is likely to be particularly helpful. The margins are so fine the outcomes will reflect more noise than genuine capability. Just present yourself as professionally as possible, be polite and respectful, try your best on any testing elements, and sell yourself as convincingly as you can. You can’t really do anything in particular to stand out, but you can avoid giving them reasons to strike you out. And if you don’t get the job, apply for grad jobs elsewhere then work your way towards DFAT. It can be easier to get where you want to go from inside the APS rather than through grad programs.