When you’re job searching, one of the most important things to get right is your resume. Creating a great resume helps get you noticed and get job interviews. Your resume is your sales document, selling you and your skills. If you are getting job interviews, it’s doing its job. If you are not hearing back from your applications, then your resume probably needs improvement.
If you are applying for online job adverts, ensure your resume contains the key words mentioned in the advert. Ensuring your resume contains the key words that the ATS (applicant tracking system) is looking for, helps get your resume into the “yes” pile. Doing this helps get your resume noticed. Never expect recruiters or hiring managers to read between the lines. They don’t have time.
Analyse the job advert and select the key words and most important skills required. Ensure your resume includes these words. Doing this helps the ATS (applicant tracking system) ‘see’ your resume. Try using a website such as jobscan or AI like ChatGPT, to help you with this.
A successful resume layout follows a simple but effective outline. It should be clear and highlight your skills, relevant to the job adverts you are applying for. It should list your strengths, your current or most recent employer, and your achievements. Ultimately it becomes the document that sells you, and gets you the job interview.
Page 1 of your Resume
Page one is particularly important. It should clearly state your skills and what you can offer a potential new employer.
It must include your most important information and key strengths. It should be a summary and clear snapshot that helps a recruiter or employer make their decision about you.
No one should need to read beyond page one before they can fully understand what you do, and what you can offer an organisation. Details on page one must include:
- Your Name
- Your Mobile Number and Email (There is no need for your home address or any more personal information)
- Career Profile – a detailed paragraph on your skills and qualifications, years of experience and what you are looking for now. If you are professionally qualified then mention this in the first line of your career profile. Also consider including 3 to 4 major accomplishments, ensuring these are relevant to the types of jobs you will be applying for. Your accomplishments can be changed, depending on the job you are applying for.
- Key Skills or Areas of Expertise – List 5 topics/skills and supporting statements. Consider changing the topics/skills to “fit” the job advert.
- Career Summary or Snapshot – List your Employer, your positions, dates your worked here (years only)
Page 2, 3 & 4 of your Resume
Page 2 should start with your “Employment History”. Focus on the last 10 to 12 years. For roles prior to this keep your information brief and summarised. Include the following:
- Company Name and dates (months and years) – start with your most recent job
- Description of the Company – Include a brief description of what the company does.
- Your Job Title – you can also amend this to reflect what job adverts are asking for. For example if your real job title was Vice President but you were actually head of sales then you can show – Vice President (Head of Sales). This allows the ATS to find the job title listed on the job advert.
- Key Responsibilities – bullet point at least 6 responsibilities, or write a summary/paragraph.
- Key Achievements – Make sure you can back up your achievements and make them tangible. Always detail where this achievement added value to the business, and explain the outcome. Read my article here on writing an achievement.
Education & Qualifications
Show education and qualifications after your employment history. Consider removing “years” if you feel your age may count against you.
Interests & Community Involvement
Detail any volunteer work you are involved with. This tells an employer more about you as a person. The majority of employers will look favourably at seeing this on your resume.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How long should my resume be? For the Australian job market, depending on the length of your career it should be between 3 and 4 pages. If you have been in the workforce a long time, summarise your older roles.
- Is there a particular look for current resumes? It is important to choose a font style that is easy to read. Calibri, Arial or Arial Narrow are good choices. Avoid using Times New Roman. Ensure as much white space as possible so your resume is easy to read. Highlight company names and clearly label the years or timeframes you have worked. Make it easy to digest, never expect people to read between the lines.
- Responsibilities vs Achievements A good resume needs both, but should be heavily weighted to tangible achievements, as this showcases your own specific skills and abilities. Examples include ‘Reduced reporting time from 5 to 2 days, (then detail how you did this)’ or ‘Undertook specific initiative (detail this) that resulted in a cost saving of $2m for the business’.
- Should I list referees? I would not recommend listing the names and phone numbers of your referees. You want to speak with referees to prepare them for a call. Listing them could invite a recruiter to call your referees without your permission. It is optional to instead write, “Referees available on request” at the bottom of your resume. Recruiters assume you can supply references, so there really is no need to mention this.
Finally
Try copying and pasting your full resume into either jobscan or skillsyncer. Then copy and paste the job advert you are applying for. Are they saying your resume is a good fit, or do you need to amend your key words? Aim for at least a 70% match.
Once you are happy with your resume, ensure the recruiters you are registered with have your new version. Then start reaching out to your network and get your resume out there!
Obviously if you are sending your resume to someone in your network, they won’t be checking it for a key word fit! However, if you are applying to online job adverts then ensure it fits the advert so the ATS notices it. Otherwise you may not hear back.
Remember, only 30% of people find jobs through the job boards and recruiters. The remaining 70% will find a role through their own network. Or even their networks network! This is what is referred to as the hidden job market.
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- Career crossroads and need clarity? Click here
- Maximise your LinkedIn and Resume for a successful job search, click here
- Nail that job interview and get the job offer, click here
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