You can know all four NSW Health CORE values and still give a weak application or interview answer. The missing part is usually a specific example. A panel needs to understand how the value affected what you did when you had a difficult conversation, an unfamiliar task or a decision to make.
This guide shows how to turn Collaboration, Openness, Respect and Empowerment into evidence. The scenarios and answers below are fictional teaching examples. Use the approach to develop your own genuine experience, rather than copying the events.
What the four CORE values mean at work
NSW Health’s culture guidance describes the four values as expectations for how people work together. Collaboration involves recognising each person’s contribution. Openness includes listening to different perspectives and communicating transparently. Respect involves consideration and listening to understand. Empowerment concerns taking ownership and contributing within the responsibilities entrusted to you.
For an application, translate the relevant value into an action the reader can follow. You might have sought input from someone who had been overlooked, acknowledged an error, changed how you explained information or helped a colleague become more confident in an agreed task. The example needs enough context to show why your action mattered.
Collaboration: show what you did to make joint work effective
A collaboration answer should explain the people involved, what they needed from each other and how you helped them work through the issue. A list of stakeholders is less useful than a clear account of how you coordinated their input.
Fictional corporate example:
“In a project support role, I helped coordinate testing for a reporting change used by finance staff and service managers. The initial test schedule assumed both groups could attend at the same time, but the service managers had operational commitments that made this difficult. I spoke with each group to identify their availability and the parts of the report they needed to check. I then proposed two shorter sessions with a shared test record, so comments from the first group were visible to the second.
“I documented questions that needed a joint decision and arranged a focused discussion with the report owner. This helped us resolve a difference in how one measure was being interpreted before the report was approved. Both groups completed the relevant checks, and the final test record showed who had reviewed each item and what had been agreed. My role was to make their different contributions usable within the time we had.”
For clinical work, a collaboration example might involve working with another discipline while keeping your own responsibilities clear. For an entry-level role, helping colleagues complete a shared task can be suitable if you explain your contribution and the outcome.
Openness: explain how you responded to information you needed to hear
Openness is a useful focus when you received feedback, discovered a mistake or changed your view after listening. The interesting detail is often what happened after the issue became uncomfortable. Explain how you checked the information, informed the appropriate person and followed through.
Fictional administration example:
“While preparing a meeting pack, I noticed that I had included an earlier version of a spreadsheet. The pack had already been sent to a small internal distribution list. I checked the difference between the versions, then told my manager what had happened and which figures were affected. I prepared a corrected pack, made the replacement clearly identifiable and followed the agreed process for withdrawing the earlier version.
“I also checked that the meeting organiser had the corrected copy before the meeting began. Afterwards, I added a version check to my preparation checklist and agreed with the report owner how final files would be identified. The meeting used the corrected information. I learnt to raise the issue promptly and give the person responsible enough detail to decide the next step.”
The applicant owns the error and describes the correction. A believable outcome is sufficient; the answer does not need a dramatic claim about transforming the organisation.
Respect: make listening and consideration visible
Respect can be demonstrated in how you communicate with a patient, respond to a colleague or handle a person’s private information. Choose an example that shows what you noticed and how you adjusted your behaviour. Remove identifying details from patient, client and colleague stories.
Fictional support-role example:
“At a reception desk, I assisted a visitor who was having difficulty understanding the directions they had been given. I asked which part was unclear and listened before repeating the information. The desk was busy, so I offered to speak at the quieter end of the counter and checked the destination with the relevant team. I explained the route in short steps and asked whether written directions would help. Before they left, I checked that the information made sense to them.
“The visitor was able to explain where they were going and thanked me for taking the time. I kept the conversation focused on what they needed and avoided discussing private details where others could hear. It reminded me to check understanding rather than assuming that giving information once is enough.”
A clinical applicant could explain how they involved the responsible clinician or an appropriate communication support service. Keep the account within what you actually did and were authorised to do.
Empowerment: show ownership and appropriate support
An empowerment example can involve building another person’s confidence or taking responsibility for your own work. Explain what the person could do afterwards, what support you provided and where decisions still required approval. The strongest example for a manager will usually involve a different scope from one used by a student or new starter.
Fictional team-leader example:
“A new team member was referring every unusual booking request to me because they were unsure which decisions they could make. I reviewed several requests with them and separated routine decisions from exceptions that needed approval. We worked through the procedure together, and I asked them to explain how they would handle two practice situations. I then arranged for them to manage routine requests independently, with a short check-in at the end of each shift.
“Over the next fortnight, their routine work required fewer corrections and their escalation notes became more specific. They continued to refer the exceptions we had agreed. I reviewed the arrangement with them and adjusted the guidance where a new situation exposed an ambiguity. This helped them take ownership while maintaining clear limits and access to support.”
Adapt the example to a written response or interview
For a written application, follow the actual question and word limit. Start with a direct statement, explain one relevant event and spend most of the space on your actions. If the question asks about all four values, plan coverage for all four. If it asks for one example of a particular value, develop that example properly.
For an interview, prepare a shorter spoken opening and enough detail for follow-up questions. You should be able to explain why you acted that way, what someone else contributed and what you learnt. Use our NSW Health interview guide for broader preparation and our selection criteria examples for written responses.
Choose your next step
Preparing an interview answer? Use the free NSW interview workbook to organise your examples. If you want personalised preparation for an upcoming interview, see the Interview Preparation Pack.
Working on a written application? The free job-ad guide helps you identify what the advertisement requires. Our Complete Government Job Application service is for people who have a particular role and want the required written documents prepared around their own experience.