How to Write an Australian Resume

How to Write an Australian Resume

Whether you’ve recently relocated down under or are simply interested in taking the next progressive step in your career, a high-quality resume is the key to making a great first impression on a prospective employer. 

Your resume, also known as a CV, will need to be tailored to every position you apply for, to hit the criteria each recruiter is looking for. However, the structure will for the most part remain the same.

In this blog, we will break down how to write an Australian resume section by section, with advice on the information you should include to progress through the application process.

General Tips for Writing an Australian Resume 

Resume Length 

Employers expect you to send them a resume that goes into detail about your skills and experience.

The length of your document will depend on what stage of seniority you are in your career, but we recommend a length of between one and three pages.

Images

Unless the job advert specifically asks for one, you do not need to include a photo on your resume.

Avoid using image-based templates for your resume too. They are not easily scanned by the software recruiters use to shortlist candidates for interview.

Contact Information

Ensure your relevant contact information is included on your resume. 

Always feature your:

  • Name;
  • Email Address;
  • Phone Number;
  • LinkedIn Profile URL.

Don’t mention your age, gender, or marital status on your resume. None of these details will impact your job performance and including them may open you up to accidental bias or discrimination. 

Remember to continuously check this section as you send out your resume. The last thing you want to do is provide out-of-date contact information!

Career Profile

Think of your Career Profile as a summary of you as a candidate. Over a few lines, cover your topline experience, the career opportunities you are interested in, and what makes you the ideal candidate. 

Try to use words from the job description as much as you can, as this will encourage the recruiter to keep reading. You need to showcase here why you are an ideal match for the vacancy and what impact you can have.  

Work History

This is the longest section of your resume and needs to cover the highlights of your professional experience. 

You should approach your Work History in reverse chronological order. Start with your most recently held position and work your way backward. 

You don’t need to include every role you have ever held in this section – covering the last 10-15 years of your career will suffice.

With every entry in your Work History, you should include the following information:

  • The name of the company you worked for;
  • Your Job Title(s);
  • The dates you worked there.

Then, include bullet points for each role that encompasses your key achievements. 

Make sure that every example you include is relevant to the role you are applying for. Review the job advert in detail and note any specific skills or experience it mentions to ensure you don’t miss any important details. Include statistics or figures as much as you can to demonstrate the positive impact that you had.

So, for example, rather than saying:

“Exceeded sales targets in Q1”

Your example should be more specific and tangible:

“Exceeded sales targets across departments by 21% in Q1, creating an ROI of 6:1”

Education

Much like your Work History, approach the Education section on your resume in reverse chronological order. Start with your most recent qualification and work your way backward. 

For every entry, include:

  • The name of the institution;
  • The qualification you completed;
  • The grade or result you achieved.

Don’t feel you need to explore your entire educational history in your resume. If you are applying for more senior positions, focus on further education and the relevant training and qualifications you have undertaken, and don’t forget to mention any awards or accolades you earned along the way. 

This information will be far more impactful than the inclusion of your school grades.

Key Skills

Once you have explored your professional experience and education, you can then be specific about your skills. 

Employers will expect to see hard skills on your resume and take time to assess the soft skills at the interview stage. You should once again review the job advert and make a list of the skills mentioned.

Hard Skills are ones you will have actively acquired through education and experience. For example:

  • Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) 
  • Budget management
  • Fluency in a language 

Soft Skills are character traits that impact how you interact with others. For example:

  • Conflict Resolution 
  • Critical Thinking 
  • Emotional Intelligence

We recommend weaving some soft skills into you professional profile and keeping the key skills section to reference your hard skills. Although soft skills are more generic, try not to include examples like “Time management” or “Attention to detail” in your resume. These are expected traits in any employee, rather than a bonus.

Volunteering Experience 

If you have participated in any voluntary activities that could be relevant to the role you are applying for, this section gives you a chance to talk about them! 

Make sure to include:

  • The name of the organisation you volunteered with;
  • The role you held;
  • The duration of your volunteer work;
  • A brief explanation of the work you did there.

This gives you the chance to tell employers a little bit about your passions and demonstrate your commitment to improving your skills and experience in different ways. 

References

The reference section will be the final one on your resume. What you include here will depend on each job advert but in general, you will not need to include contact information for your referees in your initial application.

Instead, simply state “References are available on request”, and have this information at hand should you progress through the recruitment process. 

We hope this blog has given you a better understanding of how to write an Australian resume: the different sections to include and the information you should cover to help you stand out in the recruitment process.

Tailoring your resume to every role you apply for can be time-consuming. If you would like some professional help in preparing your application documents, we would love to help. 

Discover our Writing Bundles, or find out more about our professional team of writers here.