The ultimate resume guide

Everybody needs a current resume close at hand. You never know when a great opportunity might arise, and it’s good to be ready.

Your resume is a vital part of your job-search toolbox. SEEK can help you cut through the confusion and prepare the best resume you've ever had!

Presentation and Format

Hardly any resumes are printed and sent in the post these days, so – unless a posted application is specifically required – don’t bother shopping for 100% cotton fibre watermarked parchment.

Pay attention to submission requirements. Most organisations are happy with simple documents created in Word and saved as a .doc, .docx or .rtf file. To retain your formatting and fonts, you could save your resume as a PDF; but first make sure PDFs are accepted. Otherwise, use a standard font and keep images out.

Increasingly, larger organisations are using electronic application tracking systems. Resumes are also commonly distributed internally, emailed and photocopied. This means that a simple, plain resume layout is preferred.

Personal details

Don't waste time with a cover sheet. List your name and contact details at the top of the first page, including your postal address and a telephone contact number. Include your email address only if it is private and you can check for incoming messages at least once a day. As a general rule, don't include your work number unless you have a private office where you can take a phone call without being overheard.

Using a mobile number is a good idea, but make sure that you’re able to take incoming calls. If you might miss the call, make sure your voicemail message is appropriately professional.

It is no longer usual to include details under headings such as gender, age, marital status, religion, ethnicity or health. Some experts strongly counsel against including these details. It can make your resume look dated and this personal information is not relevant to your ability to do the job. If any of the factors are relevant and an employer has an exemption to discriminate on these grounds, mention the appropriate information in your cover letter.

Career objective

Differences of opinion exist about including a career objective. Some experts dislike them, viewing them as an Americanism, clichéd or adding no value. If you do use one, expect to rewrite it, even slightly, to match each job you apply for.

Three sample career objectives:
Accountant
An accounting position in a blue-chip media/entertainment company. Long-term plans are to advance into a management position with responsibility for financial functioning of the firm.

Graphic designer
To obtain an entry-level position as a graphic designer that will utilise my creative and organisational skills and will provide an intense learning experience.

Retail manager
To become a store manager in a national retail chain with opportunities to advance to state sales management.

Professional experience

The best resumes are brief and informative, so every word in this section must work hard for you. As a general rule, include more details about your current job, and less details the older the job. If you've been in the workforce for some period of time, simply list the position, company and dates of your earlier or least relevant jobs. You are not obliged to list every job you've ever had, but you should highlight relevant experience whenever it occurred.

A tactic for older job seekers is to only list jobs since, say, 2000.

If possible, illustrate career development in your resume. If you have "downsized" your career or moved sideways, you may wish to include a brief reference to the circumstances that motivated your move. For instance, "By accepting a less senior position, I was able to accommodate part-time graduate study. In this role, I..."

Company and title

Make a decision about whether the companies you have worked for are more important than the job titles. The most important information should go first, followed by the job title on a new line. Stay consistent, though, to allow for quick scanning and comprehension.

Job summary

Don't just describe your duties and responsibilities. Emphasise your achievements and show how you contributed to your employer's business. Carefully consider how you can quantify your goals and achievements.

As an example:

"Transformed an inefficient call centre with low morale into an organised, lean and quality focused organisation, increasing revenue by 12 per cent, decreasing costs by 20 per cent and decreasing staff turnover by 25 per cent."

In some cases there won't be a quantitative measure of your achievements. Find other ways to show your contribution. For example:

"Conducted a production inventory and calculated costs as a consultant to a national retailer; findings led to a shift in the purchasing strategy"

There may not have been a problem in the first place. You did however initiate an action and get a result.

"As a self-employed contractor, set up databases for organisations that led to increased productivity for account managers."

Education

The level of detail depends on the balance between your qualifications and your work experience. It may be suitable for school leavers and graduates with little experience to list selected classes and to include results if these are better than average (or requested). Don’t just list everything you did at high school.

As a general guide, the less recent your qualification, the less information you provide. A typical format lists the name of the qualification, the date you graduated, the institution which granted it and your major. For example:

BA, 2006, Victoria University of Wellington
Major: History

Add the name of any scholarships or awards you have won to the second line.

If you are partway through a qualification, list it like this:

Graduate Diploma in Public Relations (RMIT)
study commenced 2009

Begin with the highest level of educational achievement. You can leave out details about high school if you have a higher degree or qualification.

The education section usually follows the employment details unless you are recently graduated or you are pursuing an academic position where your educational achievements are more relevant.

References and referees

It is increasingly uncommon for past employers to provide written references. Instead, a new employer will want the names and contact details of referees — people who know you well and can be contacted to check the details in your resume.

Choose your referees carefully. You must gain someone's agreement before listing them as a referee. A new employer generally won't contact referees until they have selected a preferred candidate — or if they are trying to decide between two candidates.

Consider not including details of your referees on your resume. Instead, under a heading "Referees", note that referees are available on request. Once you have been interviewed you can offer details of referees. It is a courtesy to advise referees that they may be contacted. It is also a valuable opportunity to tell them briefly about the position, what it involves and to gently remind them of your relevant skills.

Sometimes a job advertisement or position description will specifically ask for the names of referees to be included with your application. In such cases, of course, include them.

Optional extras

A good resume is as brief as possible. Only include items listed below if they will truly strengthen your application.

• Professional training
• Professional affiliations and memberships
• Licences and accreditations
• Knowledge of foreign languages
• Publications
• Special accomplishments such as awards
• Interests

Tailoring your resume

Ideally, tailor your resume for each application you submit. Every job is unique and requires a different mix of skills and experience. Don't focus your resume on what you want. Instead, understand the needs and problems facing the employer. Research the company and industry to work out what problems and challenges the company faces. If you are responding to an advertised vacancy, read the ad closely to identify what issues or problems the successful candidate needs to solve.

Next, go through your work history, retrieving the skills and experience most relevant to this employer and position. Summarise or leave out those parts of your work history which won't help you get the job. Essentially, you are emphasising some skills and achievements and de-emphasising others. Don't lie.

As part of this process, give some thought to what tone to use in your application. For example, aggressively selling yourself may suit a high-powered sales role. A graphic artist might want to develop a resume that reflects their creativity.

Once you have written the resume be sure to get somebody you trust to read it. An objective opinion can help improve your resume, but keep in mind that there are many different ideas about the ideal presentation. Weigh advice carefully (including ours).

Different resume formats

There are two main ways to organise your resume:

• Chronological structure: The chronological resume is the most common way of      structuring your information. It lists your work experience and achievements in each      job, beginning with the most recent.
• Hybrid model: The hybrid format highlights your strengths by placing your skills,      experience and abilities at the beginning, and a chronologically ordered list of      experience toward the end, as in this example.

See examples of each of these styles in the next section, below. Each format is suited to different circumstances, which are listed here:

Chronological format

Hybrid format

OBJECTIVE: Senior Marketing Manager

SUMMARY

Nine years in sales and marketing with a broad range of experience from ground-floor sales and merchandising to marketing management with an international producer and exporter of fine food and wine.

MANAGEMENT

Managed a marketing team of 18 people, telemarketing teams of 75 people and was responsible for a $15 million dollar advertising budget. Responsible for the client/agency liaison between mainstream, below-the-line and data management agencies. Responsible for the overall profitability of five brands, four of which are market leaders in both share and volume.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Launched two brands onto the national market with each brand gaining a market share of 15 per cent and 22 per cent respectively within two years.

FINANCIAL

Prepared quarterly and annual budget reports. Presented and reviewed the forecasts to senior management and represented the Australian management team at the International MIA Conference held in Chicago last December.

MARKETING RESEARCH

Co-ordinated focus groups (24 per year) and managed a team of 75 in-store market researchers to conduct field demonstrations. Presented research findings to management teams, which used the information as the basis for their product development plans, resulting in the extension of a brand that brought in sales of $2.1 million in the 2008-2009 financial year.

SALES

Ground floor experience in sales and merchandising with international fast-moving packaged goods company. Territory Manager for North Western region covering 78 stores, 12 product lines and approximately 28 sales promotional events per year.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

EDUCATION

University of Queensland, Bachelor of Business (Marketing), 2002
Seacliff TAFE, Associate Diploma in Marketing, 1999

REFEREES

Available on request.

Presentation

Do:

• Use good quality white or off-white paper.
• Use a common and easily read font – stick to one font.
• Make best use of available space.
• Use page numbers (except on the front page).
• Check and recheck spelling and grammar.

Don't:

• Use a tiny font size or lines of italic.
• Use clip art.
• Include a photograph of yourself.
• Waste paper on a cover sheet.
• Use coloured paper (it won't fax or photocopy clearly).
• Trust your computer spell check.

Original article by Rachel Rose with Bernadette Schwerdt.
Updated by Martin Jorgensen March 2005
Updated by SEEK February 2010