Resume Tips

PURPOSE OF YOUR RESUME:

The purpose of your resume is to win you an interview! In some instances, it may win you the job straight away but in most it is a tool to get you in front of the future employer.

It acts as an advertisement and thus should summarise your key skills and attributes and show that you have what it takes to do the particular position you are applying for and most importantly should entice the prospective employer to want to meet with you to learn more!

WHAT TO INCLUDE:

• Contact Details
  • Name, address, contact numbers and email address. Ideally at the top of your resume.
• Career Objective
  • Must be relevant to the position being applied for. It is your opportunity to connect your skills, experience, attributes and goals to those that the employer is seeking so read job ads carefully.
• Education & Training
  • Start with your highest and/or most recent qualification and work backwards.
• Work Skills/Attributes/Technical skills
  • A summary of core knowledge and experience to date, especially relevant to the job you are applying for.
• Professional Experience/work history
  • Start with your most recent role at the top and work backwards
  • Include employment dates, company name, and your title/position
  • List your key accountabilities and achievements. The key here is to be accomplishment-driven not responsibilities-driven. For example, detail:
    • Completing something successfully, an outcome that is measurable (profits, turnover, savings etc.), something that you can prove to have happened or can be verified, making a change or difference.
    • Use numbers where possible to back up your accomplishments!
  • Don’t go back over 10 years unless it is highly relevant to the job you are applying for and if you do, try and keep those details to a minimum.
  • If you have worked for one employer for 5 – 10++ years and had multiple positions, then list these separately (in chronological order) so your job progression with the company is more obvious.
  • Gaps in your CV? If you were doing anything valuable (paid or unpaid) write that i.e. 2004-2005 Full Time parent / Maternity Leave / Travel / Full time Study
• Professional Membership
  • List any memberships of committees, boards, community group or professional associations
• Referees
  • You should be able to provide 2 referees, listing their name, position title, employer and contact details including a direct phone number if you have one. Alternatively, writing something along the lines of “Referees provided upon request” is also acceptable.

KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER:

• • The best resumes are brief and informative
  • As a general rule, include the most detail about your current job
  • Don’t just describe your duties and responsibilities – emphasise your achievements and show how you contributed to your employers business.
  • Choose your referees carefully, and always ask their permission first!
  • Spelling mistakes and grammar – make sure your CV doesn’t have any!!
  • Use appropriate position titles, reflective of your role
  • Use bullet points – most employers don’t have time to read long paragraphs of text and thus you need to use bullet points and short sentences to describe your experiences, educational background and professional objectives.
  • Target your resume to the job/employer you are applying for, listing and highlighting your the most relevant skills and work experience.
  • Make sure your resume is clear and easy to read, pay attention to typography (font size, style, general layout)
  • List the most recent and relevant information first
  • Your resume should have a clear focus and so make sure all the information presented will work towards a unified image that a prospective employer could gleam at first glance when scanning your CV.
  • Keep it honest!
  • Proofread it twice and ideally have someone else to give it the once over.
  • An appropriate length is about 3-5 pages, depending on your experience.