Agency User Manual
Task Card – Vacancy Notice
Entering an Expression of Interest Notice
Purpose
This Task Card guides APSjobs users through the process of notifying an Expression of Interest (EOI)
notice on APSjobs.
Eligibility to apply for EOI opportunities is confined to ongoing APS Employees only.
As part of the Interim APS recruitment arrangements, agencies are able to advertise non-ongoing
vacancies with an expected duration of less than 12 months to APS employees through APSjobs.
If the term of the vacancy is expected to exceed 12 months then agencies are required to seek approval
to fill the vacancy from the Public Service Commissioner.
In order to publish an EOI notice there are a number of requirements that must be met, this document
details those requirements.
Notices that do not meet these requirements will not be published.
Process
The process for entering an EOI notice is detailed below.
Step 1 – Work Tray
Once logged into the APSjobs system your work tray will be displayed. Select ‘Enter new Vacancies’
from the menu list.
Once the ‘Add New Vacancies’ option has been selected the ‘APSjobs Employment Vacancy
Notification Wizard’ will automatically be activated.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.
The Wizard is divided into 6 separate sections. After completing the details on the first screen the user
can save and close the vacancy at the end of each section.
Throughout the Wizard all mandatory fields within the system are highlighted in bold.
Step 2 – Agency Details
This stage of the Wizard relates to Agency Details as depicted in the screen capture below.
Field 1 - New notice in
This field requires the user to select a publication date for the employment vacancy. A list of possible
publication dates can be selected from the drop down list. *Please note that EOI vacancies can only be
lodged in the daily editions of the Gazette*.
Field 2 – Department/agency:
This field displays the Agency that is advertising the vacancy.
In cases where the user is the administrator for only one agency this field will be automatically populated
by the system.
In cases where the user has administration access for more than one agency they will have to select the
relevant agency from the drop down list.
Field 3 - Classification Details:
This field requires the user to select the relevant APS classification for the EOI vacancy.
The user should take care to select the correct APS classification for the EOI vacancy.
More than one classification can be selected for each vacancy.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.
In order to save this information and progress to the next section of the wizard the user should click on
the ‘Next’ button at the bottom of the screen.
Step 3 – Position Details
This stage of the Wizard relates to Position Details as depicted in the screen capture below.
Field 1 – Position Location
This field requires the user to enter information regarding what Division/Branch/Section of the agency the
vacancy is in. Although not mandatory, this information can assist applicants in making an assessment of
their interest in and suitability for the vacancy.
This field also details the physical location(s) of the vacancy or vacancies. To enter this information the
user enters a postcode and then selects the ‘Verify’ button. After this the user can select the relevant
suburb from the drop down list. Users can select up to 6 locations for each vacancy. This is an
amendment to the previous process when location details were entered by free text.
Field 2 – Position Details
This field requires the user to enter the following information for the vacancy:

Position title: For example ‘Customer Service Team Leader’ or ‘Assistant Director – Finance’ In
the case of EOI notices the following text must be inserted before the Position title: Expression
of Interest (APS Employees Only). Notices that do not include this wording will not be
published.

Salary Range: Salary ranges can either be entered or agencies can set up the APSjobs to prepopulate salary information.

Job Category: The relevant Job Category can be selected from the drop down list.

Position Reference: The user can select any relevant options from the drop down list.

Position Number: Agencies can enter agency reference number for the vacancy in this field.

Working arrangements: In this field the user can indicate if the position is being filled on a full or
part time basis. Users can select both the full and part time boxes.

Employment Status: For an EOI notice the Non-ongoing option must be selected.
Field 3 – Position Initiatives and Programs
For an EOI notice Agencies must select the ‘APS employees only’ box. This will automatically populate
the notice with wording regarding the interim recruitment arrangements.
Agencies may select the following options if they apply to the vacancy:

Identified Indigenous position: Identified positions are positions with specific selection criteria that
signify that the role has a strong involvement in issues relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people. If an agency wishes to advertise a vacancy as an identified position this box
must be selected.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.

Special Measure opportunity: Special Measures enable agency heads to put in place special
measures to identify particular opportunities as open only to either Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander applicants or applicants with disability. When a vacancy is to be filled using Special
Measures provisions this box must be checked.

Graduate Program: Many agencies run tailored programs for graduates. Selecting this box will
also ensure that the vacancy is advertised on the APSjobs Graduate Portal.

Independent Selection Advisory Committee (ISAC): An ISAC is an independent committee that
makes recommendations to agencies about the suitability of candidates in staff recruitment
exercises. An ISAC can be used to fill vacancies at the job classification levels of APS 2 to 6 (or
job titles at these levels). If the agency accepts the recommendations of the ISAC, any resulting
promotions are not subject to the promotion review procedures in the Public Service Regulations.
If an agency intends using an ISAC to assess applicants for a vacancy this box should be
selected.

RecruitAbility: The RecruitAbility scheme facilitates the progression of applicants with disability to
further assessment in APS recruitment exercises, such as interview, when they opt into the
scheme and meet the minimum requirements for the position. The intent of the scheme is to
better support the APS employment of people with disability. If the RecruitAbility scheme is being
used as part of the assessment process for the vacancy this box should be selected.
Users should note that if they select the APS employees only, Special Measure opportunity, or Identified
Indigenous position tick boxes some text relating to these provisions will automatically populate the
‘Eligibility’ field in the ‘Duties’ screen as described in Step 4.
Selecting these fields appropriately allows APSjobs to gather statistics and information to enable more
accurate reporting on these initiatives and programs.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.
At the completion of this stage users can save incomplete vacancy notices as drafts and revisit the notice
at a later time without having to re-enter these details. The saved notice will be available through the ‘My
Saved Notices’ option in the users Work Tray.
To progress to the next section of the wizard the user should click on the ‘Next’ button at the bottom of
the screen.
Step 4 - Duties
This stage of the Wizard relates to the Duties of the vacancy as depicted in the screen capture below.
Field 1 – Duties
This field requires the user to enter the duties of the position. The duties should be described in sufficient
detail to provide potential applicants with sufficient information so they can make a considered decision
as to whether they believe they have the necessary skills and experience to apply for the vacancy.
Field 2 – Eligibility
As described previously because EOI notices must be marked as being open to APS employees only,
text relating to this will automatically be populated in this field.
Additionally, for an EOI notice agencies must also insert the following text in this field ‘This vacancy can
only be filled through a temporary assignment of duties at the same or a higher classification level (not a
promotion)’.
The user may also detail any other eligibility requirements (such as educational qualifications) in this field.
Field 3 – Notes
In this field the user can note any other information that is relevant to the vacancy. Examples of
information that may be included in this field is information regarding an impending rise in salary rates or
a statement encouraging Indigenous applicants and applicants with disability to apply.
For an EOI notice the following text must be inserted in the Notes field: ‘This vacancy will be filled for a
period of XX months’.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.
At the completion of this stage users can save incomplete vacancy notices as drafts and revisit the notice
at a later time without having to re-enter these details. The saved notice will be available through the ‘My
Saved Notices’ option in the users Work Tray.
To progress to the next section of the wizard the user should click on the ‘Next’ button at the bottom of
the screen.
Step 5 – Notice Details
This stage of the Wizard relates to the notice Details of the vacancy as depicted in the screen capture
below.
Field 1 – Notice Details
Closing Date: In this field the user enters the closing date for the vacancy. The default closing period is
14 calendar days. Other durations can be selected by the user but a closing date of less than 7 days
cannot be selected unless the closing date has previously been approved by the Australian Public
Service Commissioner. In circumstances where a closing date of less than 7 days has been approved a
short explanatory statement should be included in the ‘Closing date reason’ field.
Fields 2, 3 and 4 – Contact Officer and Selection Criteria details
In these fields the user can enter the details for the relevant agency contacts. When an agency
nominates a contact officer care should be taken to ensure that the contact is available and can answer
questions regarding the vacancy.
Many agencies do not nominate a separate point of contact for selection criteria details and make these
documents available through their e-recruitment system.
Field 5 – Include banner/logo
If an agency has provided their banner to APSjobs then this banner will appear on the notice if the check
box is selected. If the agency has not provided a banner this option is not available.
Fields 6 and 7 – Agency information link and Apply online link
In these fields the agency provides details to the relevant links to their website. The Apply online link is
where potential applicants are directed when they click on the ‘Agency Information’ the ‘Apply Online’
buttons in the published vacancy.
These fields can be set up to be pre populated.
Field 8 – Application Postal Address
This field is not always used but postal information can be entered here in case applications cannot be
submitted through the e-recruitment system or if a potential applicant cannot submit their application
online.
Field 9 – Australian JobSearch
As only APS employees are eligible to apply for EOI notices the Australian JobSearch option should
not be selected for EOI notices.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.
Field 10 – Editorial Instructions
Notes placed in this field are visible to agency registered users and System Administrators but are not
part of the published notice. This field can be used to make any notes pertaining to the vacancy.
At the completion of this stage users can save incomplete vacancy notices as drafts and revisit the notice
at a later time without having to re-enter these details.
To progress to the next section of the wizard the user should click on the ‘Save as Draft & Next’ button at
the bottom of the screen.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.
Step 6 – Review
This stage of the Wizard relates to reviewing the details of a draft vacancy notice as depicted in the
screen capture below.
This screen allows the user to view the notice as it will appear when published and identify any required
changes to the notice.
If the user submitting the notification is satisfied the draft EOI notice is ready for publication the user can
submit the notice for approval by clicking on the ‘Next’ button at the bottom of the screen.
If the user wishes to make changes to the notice they can click on the ‘Previous’ button and amend the
content of the notice as required.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.
Step 6 – Submit
This stage of the Wizard relates to submitting the draft notice to another APSjobs user within the agency
for approval.
The process for the submitting and approving a notice can be divided into 2 roles – the user and the
approver.
The user
In this screen the user is prompted to select another user from within their agency to approve the notice in
the ‘Registered user’ field. A list of registered users is available from the drop down list.
After an approver has been selected the user can forward the notice to the approver for consideration by
selecting the ‘Submit’ button at the bottom of the screen.
Submitting the Employment Vacancy Notice for approval
The approver
It is the approver’s responsibility to proof read the notice and then approve it for publication.
The approver can be any other registered APSjobs user within the same agency as the user that drafted
the notice. They do not need to be a higher classification than the other user.
When a registered user is sent a draft notice to approve they will automatically be sent the below e-mail.
They will also receive a notification in their APSjobs Work Tray.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.
Approval of Employment Vacancy notice
Subject: Approval review for <Notice ID> - <Notice type>
Dear <Firstname>
Notice <Notice ID> - <Notice type> has been allocated to you for approval by <User>
Please logon to your APSjobs account and action this notice.
This is done via the My Action Items on the Work Tray menu.
The process requires you to review the notice and either approve it for publication or return it to <User>
for further action.
If you have forgotten your password, the Login page has a Forgotten Password function which will send
you a new password.
Thank You.
APSjobs Support
Email: [email protected]
URL: http://www.apsjobs.gov.au
The nominated approver will be able to see the draft notice in APSjobs as shown below:
If the approver is satisfied that the notice is ready for publication they can select the ‘Approve’ button at
the bottom of the screen.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.
This approves the notice for publication. Approvers should be aware that no further amendments can be
made to the notice after it has been approved.
If the Approver identifies amendments or further information they want included in the notice they can
make a note of these in the ‘Editorial Instructions’ field. After selecting the ‘Reject’ button these
comments will be forwarded to the user that originally drafted the notice.
In the case of a rejected notice the original user can amend the notice details and then resubmit the
notice to the Approver for reconsideration.
Entering an outcome for an EOI notice
Because the EOI notice has been published in the Gazette it is best practice for agencies to notify the
outcome of the process.
In cases where the result of the EOI process is the temporary movement at level of an APS employee
then the gaining agency should lodge an assignment/movement notice in APSjobs. The gaining agency
should also make a note in the notice confirming the duration of the Assignment/Movement. The duration
should be consistent with that detailed in the original EOI.
Further assistance regarding the entering of an Assignment/Movement notice is available from the
APSjobs website https://resources.apsc.gov.au/apsjobs/
In cases where the outcome of the EOI process is the temporary movement of an APS employee to a
higher classification the gaining agency should draft an Assignment/Movement notice. After the notice is
drafted the gaining agency should contact the APSjobs Team ([email protected]) to approve the
notice as only APSjobs System Administrators can approve an Assignment/Movement notice to a higher
classification.
This task card is correct as @ 10 March 2014.