Having spent 15 years working in recruitment companies I have seen many resumes along the way. Here are some tips to help you write a resume for Australian employers.

Contact details

Make sure all of your contact details are easy to find on the resume – the top of the page is a good place for these. Include your name, phone number, address and email address. Use professional email addresses – if you have a strange email address, for example – evilhobbit@ or similar, change it to some format of your name. Avoid using an email address for a couple, for example – janeandjohn@ the employer is interested in you, not your partner.

Lay out

Keep the layout simple. There is no right or wrong way, what one person thinks looks fantastic could be very confusing to someone else. It is a matter of opinion, but in my experience keeping it simple is the best option. Use clear fonts and bold headings (no need to underline also). Use dot points (one type only) to list information. Avoid coloured font and centre your work appropriately.

Core Expertise / Key Strengths

It is a good idea to summarise your core expertise or key strengths first. This gives the person reading your resume a quick snapshot of what you have to offer.

For example:

• Customer Service – 5 years in face to face customer service roles
• Human Resources – staff induction, performance reviews, employee relations

Career Profile / Overview / Summary

Many people like to have a Career Summary or Career Overview at the beginning of the resume. This should detail what the reader will find in your resume. A few sentences written as a paragraph is a good rule of thumb. Make sure the summary contains facts, not generic sentences that add no value or state the obvious.

For example:

“A customer service professional with 5 years experience in the hospitality industry, I have worked in fine dining venues in England and Canada. As the Front of House Manager I have a proven track record in improving the bottom line in the restaurants I have worked in by 10%. I have recently completed a Bachelor of Business at The University of London and am now seeking a new professional challenge in Australia.” (this is completely fictional but you get the idea)

The actual resume content – Career History

A good structure for this section:

Job Title, Employer name, Dates, Brief Description of Employer, the key things you did (responsibilities) and Achievements (optional).

For example:

Front of House Manager

Harrington Valley Restaurant, Chelsea, London, UK

January 2013 – current

Harrington Valley Restaurant is an elegant fine dining restaurant with tasting menus, on the banks of the Thames in the upmarket Chelsea area with sweeping city views.

• • Manage the Front of House team of 10 staff
• • Deliver the highest quality customer service to clients at all times creating a positive customer experience
• • Work alongside the Head Chef, Bar Manager and Restaurant Manager
• • Oversee the restaurant operations including staffing, non-food supplies and budgets
• • Work with the Sommelier on wine offerings

Achievements

• • Recruited and trained 5 new staff to be fully operational in one month, one week ahead of schedule
• • Named employee of the year in 2015 (voted by peers and customers)

Education and Training

Start with your highest qualification first – unless you have just left school you can leave your secondary school out. Training can be university, vocational training, industry courses, in-house training and other professional courses.

Professional Memberships

Include those that are relevant to your career or the career you are transitioning into if applicable.

Hobbies and Interests

It’s up to you if you want to add this to your resume. It can work for you or against you depending on the person reading your resume and their thoughts on the hobbies / interests listed.

References

These should come at the end of your resume. If you are still employed and don’t want your prospective employer to make contact with your current employer do not include their contact details here. Instead just write “References available on request.” If you list someone as a referee it is common courtesy to let them know you have done this so they are not confused if they receive a call about you and your previous work history.

Other tips

• Only factual information that is relevant to your career is needed. You are not legally obliged to include any personal details around your date of birth, marital status etc.
• Do not go back more than 10 years in your work history summary, the jobs you had more than 10 years ago are less relevant.
• You should have 2 versions of your resume if you have a long career history. A one-page resume and a full resume which goes into more detail.
• If there are gaps in your resume it is a good idea to explain them – keep the explanation simple and to the point. When an employer scans a resume they will notice gaps, if you leave them the employer may assume the worst when in fact you might have been travelling (which is great experience in being adaptable and flexible).
• Write your resume in reverse chronological order with your most recent job at the top of your resume.
• A resume is a door-opening document, something to get you an interview. It would be unusual to get a job based solely on your resume.