Writing and Punctuation / Writing Application letters & CVs for a job / Resumes and CVs

Career Development Centre Career Series

Resume

A resume is a professional sales tool outlining a sample of evidence including, skills, education, and employment experience that demonstrates the capability of an applicant to perform a particular job. It is the tool used to secure a job interview and generally should be no longer than three pages in length (Australian Resume).

What to include:

As a general rule, you should include any information or achievements that will make you more appealing to an employer and demonstrate you ability to perform the duties required. It is NOT a list of everything you have done since Primary School or a describing document.

Items to incorporate include:

Contact Details: This must include your name and a contact method, however you address is optional.

Objective or Professional Statement: A short statement that links your strengths, skills and experience to what the employer is looking for.

Eg: An Accounting Graduate seeking an opportunity to consolidate and apply my…(three top skills)

Demonstrated Skills: It is suggested that you use approximately five dot points to outline your key strengths and skills relevant to what the employer is looking for

Eg: Proven abilities in financial research, analysis and reporting

Education: This is presented in reverse chronological order and should clearly outline the dates, course, institute and any achievements

Accounting Major

Grade Point Average 3.2 (1-4 scale)

First in Class – Accounting Principles (2005)

Employment History or Professional Experience: If you can fail at it or be fired from it, it can generally be included in this section. You can use up to five dot points to outline key duties that you performed and any additional achievements or professional highlights you accomplished. The format should mirror the format of Education.

Career Development Centre (2007)

Career Development Centre Career Series

Resume

Leadership Roles: Any roles that you have held that will demonstrate your ability to lead eg: student council

Extra Curricular Activities: Extra involvement outside of university studies eg: sporting teams, clubs etc

Computer Application Skills: Be sure to include all computer skills that your ability is either intermediate of advanced

Referees: 2-4 good referees

Interests: Interests that are not relevant to whether you can perform a job or not, but demonstrates what is important and of interest to you in your personal life.

What not to include:

Date of Birth

Place of Birth

Religious beliefs

Marital Status

If you are a parent

Health

When designing your resume it is important to consider your target audience. A candidate applying for an Accounting job would not include graphics and pictures in their resume, however a design student may. This document should be unique to you and therefore you are advised not to use Word templates or Word Wizard to assist you in writing your resume.

For additional support and suggestions, please make an appointment or email the Career Development Centre for feedback and coaching on your resume or any career related enquiry!

Career Development Centre (2007)