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“Plan and Prioritise” can leave you wondering which part of your career to write about. Useful evidence often comes from an ordinary task, such as coordinating a late contribution or adjusting work when a deadline changes. In that account, explain what you considered before deciding which work could move.
This library contains original fictional focus capability examples and notes on how to adapt the approach. They are not client applications or official model answers. Use the advertised capability level and indicators to choose your own experience, with our focus capabilities guide available if you need help interpreting the role description.
Choose an example close to the advertised work
| Evidence you need to develop | Example in this guide |
|---|---|
| Explain information to a particular audience | Communicate Effectively: changed appointment instructions |
| Coordinate people with different responsibilities | Work Collaboratively: a referral handover |
| Investigate a recurring issue | Think and Solve Problems: incomplete forms |
| Follow work through to an agreed outcome | Deliver Results: an overdue records task |
| Show the reach of your planning decisions | Plan and Prioritise: two roles in one service change |
A private-sector example can be useful when the behaviour transfers to the role. Explain the relevant work accurately and leave the original context visible. Check separately whether the vacancy requires specific government or technical experience.
Communicate Effectively: explain a process customers need to use
Fictional response extract:
When our appointment process changed, I reviewed the enquiries reaching the reception team. Customers were uncertain about how to change an existing booking, so I rewrote that part of the instructions around the steps they needed to complete. I checked the wording with the staff responsible for bookings and asked a colleague unfamiliar with the process to follow it. Their feedback showed that the confirmation message needed an example. After adding one, I obtained approval for the revised instructions and made sure reception staff had the same version. The team used that version when responding to subsequent enquiries.
The applicant identifies the audience's problem and explains how they checked their writing. Adapt this approach by describing the information your audience needed, including how you responded when someone remained uncertain. If the vacancy involves communicating sensitive information, choose an example that lets you explain the relevant care without revealing private details.
Work Collaboratively: make a handover usable
Fictional response extract:
In a community service team, referrals were being handed over with different amounts of information. I met with the staff who received them to identify which details were needed before they could act. I also asked the referring staff where they had difficulty obtaining that information. We agreed on a short handover template and a way to flag details awaiting confirmation. I tested the template with a colleague using anonymised cases, revised one unclear field and arranged for the manager to approve it. During the next team review, receiving staff reported that they could identify outstanding checks more easily. We kept the template and reviewed exceptions at our regular meeting.
The example describes other people's contributions and shows how the applicant used them. In your own account, make the dependency clear. Explain what happened when another person disagreed or had a constraint that affected the proposed approach.
Think and Solve Problems: find why forms keep coming back
Fictional response extract:
I noticed that several application forms were being returned for the same missing detail. I checked recent returns and compared the forms with the instructions supplied to applicants. The instructions used an internal term that some applicants had interpreted differently. I asked the officer responsible for the requirement to confirm its meaning, then proposed a plain-language explanation with a completed fictional example. We tested the wording with staff unfamiliar with the task before obtaining approval. In the following review period, fewer forms were returned for that issue. I recorded the comparison and kept monitoring other reasons for returns.
This account connects the proposed solution to information the applicant checked. Add reliable numbers if you have them, along with the period and category measured. Where you only observed a change, describe that observation without converting it into a precise statistic.
Deliver Results: complete a task with a visible deadline
Fictional response extract:
I was assigned to bring a records register up to date before an internal review. Some entries needed confirmation from staff in another team, so I first separated the items I could complete from those requiring their input. I agreed on a response date with the other team and kept an exception list showing which records remained open. When two responses were delayed, I raised their effect on the deadline with my manager and followed the agreed escalation process. The register was ready for the review, with the outstanding exceptions clearly documented for the reviewer. I then completed those entries after the relevant staff confirmed the information.
The result identifies both completed work and unresolved items. Use that level of accuracy when describing a delivery. If a deadline changed, explain who agreed to it and how you dealt with the consequences for other people.
Plan and Prioritise: compare evidence at different levels
Capability levels show increasing complexity and skill. The 2026 NSW Capability Framework describes Intermediate planning in relation to team goals and responding to changes. Adept includes wider goals, consulting on plans and assessing the effect of changes on the team's or business unit's work. The following original scenario illustrates parts of those expectations; it is not a complete assessment of either level.
Shared fictional situation: A service team is changing the way it processes requests while continuing its daily work. The transition has an agreed date, and staff need to learn the revised process.
Intermediate illustration: organise work within the transition plan
I was responsible for coordinating the team's training sessions and preparing the reference material. I checked the transition plan with my manager and arranged the sessions around the periods when the service was busiest. Staff feedback showed that a proposed session would leave insufficient coverage, so I moved it and confirmed the change with those affected. I updated my work plan to complete the reference material before the first session and raised an outstanding approval early. The sessions proceeded with the agreed service coverage, and the approved material was available for staff to use afterwards.
The example concerns assigned work that supports a team goal. The applicant responds to feedback and adjusts the plan when circumstances change. Further evidence would be needed for any advertised indicator the example does not address.
Adept illustration: develop and revise the team's transition plan
I was responsible for developing the team's transition plan while maintaining agreed service standards. Consultation with the operational leads helped establish demand and identify activities that depended on final system approval. The organisation's wider plan called for services to move online while keeping support available for customers who needed help. I used that goal when proposing a staged transition and allocating staff to the existing service. When system approval was delayed, I assessed the effect on the remaining activities and presented a revised sequence to the manager. We agreed to move one stage while the preparatory work continued. During implementation, staff feedback and request volumes showed where additional coverage was needed, which informed my revised allocation of work. By the end of the transition, the backlog had returned to its earlier level, and the business unit approved the revised arrangements for ongoing service.
The account connects the team's plan to a wider organisational goal and explains a revision made during implementation. Its outcome refers to both service demand and the ongoing arrangement. In your version, identify the records that support the result and explain any unresolved effect on the service.
| Detail to compare | Intermediate illustration | Adept illustration |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Assigned training and reference tasks | Plan for the team's transition |
| Autonomy | Adjusts assigned work within an agreed plan | Proposes sequencing and consults on the wider plan |
| Action | Uses feedback to resolve a scheduling conflict | Assesses delay across dependent activities and revises the plan |
| Outcome evidence needed | Sessions and material delivered with agreed coverage | Transition outcomes, service impact and adjustments supported by records |
Framework attribution: © State of New South Wales (Office of the Public Service Commissioner) 2026. The indicator descriptions above are paraphrased from the framework; the examples and annotations are Team 3Thirty teaching material.
Clerk Grade examples: use the vacancy's level
Applicants often search for a Clerk Grade 3/4 or 7/8 example because the grade is easier to recognise than the capability wording. Check the advertised level for each focus capability before choosing the example. Different roles at the same grade can require different evidence.
Record the responsibility you held and which decisions needed approval. A detailed account of work you performed gives you material you can explain at interview. Avoid adding authority or scope simply to make the example sound senior.
Put the example into the required response
For a separate criterion, develop the parts that answer that criterion and stay within the stated limit. For a cover letter, choose evidence that fits the letter's purpose and available space. Our selection criteria examples library shows responses organised by written requirement, while the how-to guide explains the drafting process.
If you have reached the interview stage, use the capability interview worked answers to practise speaking about your decisions. Keep your account consistent with the documents you submitted.
Develop examples for your selected role
Team 3Thirty's selection criteria writing service helps develop your real experience into the documents required by a vacancy. The Complete Government Application costs $497 incl. GST, with your CV and the required written responses included for one role.
To start an application request, provide the job ad and closing deadline. Your notes can be rough; include the decisions you made and any evidence of the result so we can develop the account accurately.