Hi all - posting the outline of my application in case this helps anyone. Was endorsed in about a week after second submission of my application at the beginning of July (submitted 1st July, endorsed on the 9th). I was rejected last year for context.
A few pointers for business applications:
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Tell a complete story that is supported by every piece of evidence; everything should complement and work together to show you as a complete candidate. I recommend spending time outlining your story and then working backward creating your evidence to support it.
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Everything should demonstrate quantifiable impact, including examples given in your letters of support. Demonstrate financial outcomes, growth created, industry impact - this really matters.
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Do not assume that the assessor understands your company or your role. You have to explicitly (and consistently) explain and demonstrate both across all of your evidence, ensuring that both meet the TN criteria.
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If you have evidence that doesnât fully meet the requirements for the Mandatory or Optional Criteria, weave it into your Letters of Recommendation or Support. I had a good amount of volunteering/speaking experience but none of it felt sufficient to stand on itâs own as evidence so I asked my letter-writers to include it into their stories about me and reference specific examples of events/panels/etc. This can help round out your application and give the assessor a fuller picture of you as an applicant.
good luck!
MC:
- Letter of Support (LOS) from CRO of leading AI company, has known me for ~4 years from working together at a different company
- CTO of a leading marketplace company - worked together during my time in sales and sold my companyâs solution to his organisation
- Significant commercial success: evidence of exponential growth of the company I worked at over 8 years from annual statements, confirmed by LOS 1.
- Evidence of high salary: I included screenshots across the last 5 years of my salary + equity + bonus history of all my roles as well as public benchmarks for my role from sites like glassdoor.com
OC1:
- 3 Slides from a major client sale I completed. Slide 1 = background on the project + my role. Slide 2 = digram illustrating my commercial and technical strategies to win the business Slide 3 = diagrams illustrating the commercial and industry outcomes of winning the business
- Same thing for a different client
- Same structure outlining an internal operational strategy I designed and delivered in a different role resulting in significant revenue uplift for my employer
OC3:
- Letter of Support from a CTO client that attested to my impact on the acquisition of his company
- 3 Slides outlining this acquisition process, my role, and media attention
- 3 slides demonstrating sales contracts Iâve closed (totalling ~$5 million)
Sending encouragement to anyone still in the process - keep at it! Itâs hard and stressful but success is possible. Best of luck!