How to Apply for a Job:

Building a resume

Some basics
• There is no 'right' way of writing a resume/CV (these terms are used interchangeably);
• Content should cover personal/contact details, education, work experience, extra-curricular
activities, achievements, a relevant skills section and career objective if appropriate;
• Most relevant information should be on the first (and second) page;
• Use highlighting and dot points to make it easy to skim read the document;
• No spelling and grammatical errors - do not rely on spell checks;
• Length should be around 2-3 A4 pages, 4-5 pages if you have considerable work experience;
• Use good quality white paper; clear, easy to read font; leave white space for notes; layout attractive,
clear headings; name/page no. as footer;
• Photocopies should be good quality and document stapled together.

Writing my resume
The following pages will give you some information and examples of what to include in the various
sections of your resume. The order of the sections may vary depending on the stage of your career and
the relevance of the information to the position you are seeking. As a new graduate you are likely to put
Education before Employment, but as an experienced graduate or postgraduate, a summary of your
skills and experience on the first page is more likely to engage the employer.

Put yourself in the position of the employer who has certain criteria in mind related to a position and
ask yourself the question: “What information needs to be put on the first page that will make the
employer want to look at the second.”

Common sections in the resume

Personal/ Contact Details

It is effective to use your name and contact details to form the heading of page one.
In Australia you do not need to include gender, age, marital status, health, height/weight, citizenship or
anything that could discriminate against you. However you may include any of these if it will benefit
your application.
 Anthony Graduate

123 Norton Road

Ashfield. NSW 2345
Tel: 9287 3785
Mobile: 0412 995 335
E-mail:agrad@hotmail.com.au

Anthony Graduate
123 Norton Road Tel: 9287 3785
Ashfield. NSW 2345 Mobile: 0412 995 335
Permanent Resident E-mail:agrad@hotmail.com.au

Anthony Graduate

Personal Details do not bold items as these are not the focus

Address 123 Norton Road

Ashfield. NSW 2345
Tel: 61 2 9287 3785 full telephone number for overseas employers
Mobile: 0412 995 335
E-mail: agrad@hotmail.com.au
Citizenship Permanent Resident may be helpful to clarify eligibility for FT work
Objective (optional)
Alternative headings include– Career Objective, Career Focus, Employment Objective
The purpose of a career objective is to give the resume content a focus. When you have completed a
degree, the qualification can often be used in a variety of workplaces and occupations. The career
objective is a brief statement that enables the employer to quickly understand how and where you are
wanting to utilise your skills. It needs to be somewhat specific but flexible at the same time.
Example 1
An opportunity to work in a public relations role where I can use my interest and demonstrated
capacities in written and verbal communication, creative flair and ability to target information for
specific consumers or clients.
Example 2
To utilise my interest and qualifications in life sciences as well as my natural interpersonal and well
developed communication skills to work in a sales or marketing role in the pharmaceutical or scientific
equipment industries.
Example 3
A graduate position that allows me to use strong analytical and numeracy skills and an aptitude for
transport modelling to assist in the development of efficient logistics.

Career Summary
A Career Summary is most useful for those applicants who have had considerable workplace
experience. It allows you to:
• give the employer a quick overview of your experience;
• to highlight skills that are relevant to the position, role or career area;
• to provide links from one career area to another.
Example 1
Qualifications in education and training and 15 years experience in teaching sport and physical
education have developed skills in group facilitation, program development, problem solving,
negotiation and time and people management. In my role as Department Head, I have managed budgets
and liaised with a range of stakeholders to develop appropriate programs, experience readily applicable
to the development and running of tour groups.
Example 2
More than 10 years executive level experience in marketing, public relations and sales management
where my skills in managing and advising people and meeting organisational goals have lead to
significant outcomes. Highly organised with an eye for detail and excellent interpersonal and
communication skills have enabled me to work effectively as a problem solver and relationship
manager.
Example 3
With a background in biomedical instrumentation culminating in a PhD, I have managed diverse teams
and budgets of up to $500,000 to achieve specific outcomes, won research grants totalling $1 million
and have also run my own training business. Excellent communication and negotiation skills have
allowed me to interface readily between scientific/technical R & D environments and commercial
opportunities to enhance business development, particularly in medical instrumentation.

Employment
Alternative headings include– Employment History, Work Experience, Career Record,
Professional Experience
The purpose of this section is to:
• highlight relevant experiences and achievements from paid and unpaid work
(Note: when starting out in a career, even non-related work experience enables you to gain useful
workplace skills eg customer service, teamwork and communication skills);
• demonstrate the development of relevant skills;
• give brief information about employers if appropriate;
• account for time, particularly the last 5-10 years – prior experience may not require detailed
explanation.

It is best to:
• use brief statements or dot points;
• bold company name and your role;
• include skills used in your responsibilities;
• use action words in the past tense eg 'developed' rather than 'development of'
• be quantitative where appropriate eg 'trained six new staff'.
Example 1

Customer Service March ‘XX – Feb ‘XX

Chicken Spot, Ashfield
• Promoted to supervisory role after 8 months
• Worked quickly and efficiently during peak demand
• Balanced cash accurately
• Served customers politely at all times

Example 2

Senior Research Technician April 20XX – Nov 20XX

ABC Research Centre, Botany
The Centre is involved in R & D of composite materials relevant to the transport industry. My
responsibilities involved the design, development and manufacture of such materials.

• Managed day to day activities for the R & D of a new process from concept to item production with
a budget of $1.5 m p.a.
• Supervised 4 staff and several industrial training students
• Streamlined shopfloor/laboratory work flow
• Contributed to product development to meet client company production requirements
• Advised on production tooling requirements

Example 3
The Candy Company, Sydney Feb ‘XX – June ‘XX
Marketing Assistant Contract role
• Researched and analysed consumer categories to determine strength and weaknesses of current
product packaging.
• Presented findings to marketing manager and 6 staff.
• Compiled written report with outcomes and suggested alternatives for consideration.
• Proposed an alternative marketing strategy.
Achievement: Part of proposed marketing strategy was implemented.

Education
Alternative headings include: Qualifications, Professional Training, Education and Training
In this section you can include your current qualification, previous qualifications, HSC, UAI and other
training courses. Most recent qualifications should be listed first. You may also wish to include a short
description of a thesis or special project if relevant.
Example 1
Bachelor of Business 20XX - 20XX
(Majors: Marketing and Management)
University of Technology, Sydney
Results: Credit Average
Electives included: (list subjects relevant to the position you are targeting)

Associate Diploma in International Marketing 20XX - 20XX

TAFE, Ultimo
Results: Distinction Average

Higher School Certificate 20XX

Birrong Girls High School
UAI: 75.5

Example 2

Qualifications
University of Technology, Sydney 20XX - 20XX
Master of Business Administration (International Business)
I.I.A.M. 20XX - 20XX
Post Grad Dip in Management (Global Management and Marketing)
University of Madras 20XX - 20XX
Bachelor of Arts (Economics)

Example 3
B. of Engineering/Dip in Engineering Practice (Computer Systems Engineering)
University of Technology, Sydney
20XX - current

Young Engineers Symposium Project

'A world wide web based positioning system analysis program'
This project developed an on-line design tool for positioning systems written in Java so that it can run
on the world wide web. It is possible using this tool to enter the coordinates of a number of base-
stations and work out the Dilution of Position for both hyperbolic and radial systems. The program
allows the user the option of entering a number of standard base-station configurations, such as
triangular, rectangular, and hexagonal. The program produces grey-scale plots showing the DOP at
different points in space. It could be used as a teaching aid or an exploratory planning tool.

H.S.C. 20XX
Randwick Boys High School UAI - 82.5

Relevant Skills
Alternative Headings: Skills and Achievements, Professional Skills. Key Assets/Key Skills, Skills
Summary etc.
This section enables you to highlight the skills most relevant to a particular employer or for a particular
role. As a new graduate you may list your major skills fairly simply as in the examples below. After
having worked in several roles and organisations, it is more effective to summarise your capabilities,
giving some information about how the skills were developed. This is a Skills Based resume and avoids
repetition and too much detail in the Employment section.

Example 1

Computer Skills
Languages: Visual Basic 6, SQL, C, C++,
Eiffel, Java, Pearl, Haskell, Shell Scripting

Software: MS Works, MS Office, Lotus 123, Lotus Notes,

HTML, DHTML, XML

Operating Systems: Linux, Unix, Windows NT

Example 2

Key Skills
Software Packages:
Illustrator 7/8, Photoshop 5, Quark Express 3/4, Pagemaker, Dreamweaver

Platforms:
Familiar with both Mac and PC, competent keyboard skills

Languages:
Fluent in Malay and Mandarin

Responsibility/Initiative:
Demonstrated in my rapid promotion to Acting Manager in a retail environment and
in the ability to deliver 2 successful design projects for the UTS Design Studio

(Other technical or generic skills could be added here. Restrict items to no more than seven.)

Example 3

Professional Skills
Media Relations
Have written and followed up media releases, scripted radio announcements and organised and run
interviews for television, radio and print. Organised celebrities for promotional functions including
photoshoots in collaboration with Creative Media Company. Responsible for local media involvement
in all special events.
Special Events Coordination
Initiated several local and regional promotions. This involved extensive research, planning, negotiation
of sponsorship, liaison with police, councils, community service groups, volunteers, sponsors and
media. Organised production of leaflets and promotional material and distributed and directed
operations on the day. Responsible for budget and the financial success of events.
Public Relations
Represented organisation at many promotional and media functions. Lectured to community groups
and have managed inquiries from all sectors of the community.
Extra Curricular Activities
Alternative headings: Interests, Community Involvement, Sporting Activities
• You may wonder why such a section is included in a resume and how it relates to being selected
for a position. This is a valid question.
• As a new graduate, employers will be interested in your extra curricular activities because they are
interested in the skills you have demonstrated in these activities eg teamwork, leadership, initiative.
They also demonstrate your ability to manage study, work and leisure and how you may fit the
culture of an organisation.
• As you gain more work experience, this section will become less detailed but will provide extra
information about you as a person.

Example

Interests
Sport:
Tennis – member of local Club and play local competition.
Swimming as relaxation.

Music: an eclectic range from classical to acid rock.

Travel: travelled for a month in Vietnam in Jan/Feb 20XX.

Referees / References
• Referees are people who are willing to be phoned or emailed to provide information about your
skills and attributes.
• Two to three referees may be listed at the end of your resume for a specific position. If possible, use
referees who can speak about your skills/attributes that relate to the position. For this reason work
referees are the most valued, but academic and personal referees may be used if necessary.
• If sending to a recruitment organisation or to an organisation in the hope of a position, do not
provide contact details of referees. In this situation your referees may be contacted without your
knowledge or consent. Use the statement “Referees provided upon request” at the end of your
resume.
• References are written statements that can be attached to your application. Attach at most only one
or two references that add specific value to your application, ie. that address the selection criteria.
Example
Ms Christine Frampton
Manager
Green Solutions
Tel: (02) 9836 0497
Email: Frampton.c@greensolutions.org.au