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Considering "select" as an adjective. Could we say "I am select for the job" and "I got/became select for the job"

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    What is your intended meaning? Do you mean that you are suitable for the job, or that you were chosen to do the job?
    – alphabet
    Feb 9 at 3:31
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    @alphabet as an adjective as in state/condition
    – Bilal Zafar
    Feb 9 at 4:08
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    It isn't an appropriate adjective here - see this definition.
    – Kate Bunting
    Feb 9 at 9:57
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    I was offered the position (job).
    – Mari-Lou A
    Feb 9 at 18:05

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No, one is either select or not select; a person isn't generally select "for" something. (Also, the adject "select" is usually used attributively, not predicatively, although the latter isn't necessarily wrong.) It would be better to say:

I have been selected for the job.
I was selected for the job.
I got selected for the job.
I am being selected for the job.
Etc.

(You didn't ask specifically about the verb, but note that some verb forms work better than others, depending on the intended meaning.)

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    Why are you writing about the verb "select"? The question is about (and tagged for) the adjective.
    – Toby Speight
    Feb 10 at 15:58
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    @TobySpeight My first paragraph directly addresses the adjective "select" and why it doesn't work in OP's proposed sentences. The rest of the answer addresses how to fix the problem, and a natural way to do so is to use the verb "select" instead.
    – MarcInManhattan
    Feb 10 at 22:58
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The adjective select, in modern use, usually means "extra special". It is not used for things (or people) which have just been selected for some particular purpose.

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    Also worth noting that select as an adjective is like several or some in that it cannot be used predicatively. "It is select" is ungrammatical.
    – A. R.
    Feb 10 at 20:47
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    @AndrewRay There may be a grey area: His select choices/taste -> his choices/taste are/is very select...
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Feb 11 at 13:31
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    In fact, in modern retail marketing, "select" means no more than "some, and we decide which".
    – CCTO
    Feb 11 at 17:21
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    @CCTO: yes, I wondered whether to mention that. I would say rather that in marketing "select" means nothing at all, but is meant to make you think that somebody has carefully selected the items.
    – Colin Fine
    Feb 11 at 19:09
  • @Peter-ReinstateMonica See, I would have to say that his taste is very selective.
    – A. R.
    Feb 13 at 14:08
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I hazard a guess that this is some kind of homework: write a sentence using "select" as an adjective.

So, English isn't as simple as it looks. The past tense of "select" is "selected", so the sentences you wrote would have to look like this to be corect:

"I was selected for the job" and "I got selected for the job"

("became selected" is not something a NS would say, however correct it might look.)

Now, if you want to use "select" as an adjective, try this sort of thing:

  • As one of the select few he received a job.
  • The office was manned by a select collection of volunteers.
  • A basket of select brands of chocolates

But I must say, it's hard to find examples which don't look strange.

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    I agree about past tense. In formal speaking, one usually should avoid 'get' also. Informally, get/got is OK, however.
    – JosephDoggie
    Feb 9 at 19:02
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    As the examples demonstrate, "select" as an adjective is typically applied to a collective noun. It conveys that the members of the collection were selected specifically for it, generally according to some high standard, though that selection process can sometimes be metaphorical.
    – John Bollinger
    Feb 9 at 19:12
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    "Selected" is the past tense of "select", but in the cases provided you are using the past participle, which is a different construction. In this case is also "selected". But for other verbs the past tense and the past participle can be different forms.
    – Sriotchilism O'Zaic
    Feb 11 at 20:04
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The only case that I am aware of in which the adjective select is commonly used is in the phrase a select few, such as in "The luxury of traveling by private jet is only available to a select few." Select basically modifies few then and means "of only the best type or highest quality, and usually small in size or amount" .

If you're trying to say that you're (one of) the best candidate(s) for the job, I'd say something like

  • I'm the ideal candidate for the job
  • I'm well-suited for the job
  • I'm uniquely qualified for the job
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