How to write a great resume

Working in the EAIT Employability Team, I see a lot of resumes. Unfortunately, many of them are unlikely to make the shortlist in a job application.

This is understandable when there is so much mystery surrounding the content of a ‘good’ resume. The good news is, there is a formula to what makes a successful resume and the EAIT Employability Team is here to help you understand it.

Curriculum Vitae or Resume?

A common question is, which one do I need? To explain, one is a French word and the other is a Latin word but they essentially mean the same thing – a summary of your professional history.  I personally prefer the term Resume as this seems to be the most commonly used by industry but don’t sweat the small stuff, your document will not need a title anyway.

What’s in and what’s out?

The format of a resume can differ from country to country. If Australia is not your home country this can be especially confusing so let’s clear up a few points. In Australia your resume should not contain:

• Your photograph (unless you’re applying to be a model)
• Personal information such as marital status, health condition, gender, religion, political affiliation, or date/place of birth
• Fancy design (unless you’re applying to be a designer)
• The reason why you left a job
• Acronyms

To add the information that should be in your resume, a good place to start is with a blank word document with the following sections/headings:

1. Your personal contact details.
2. Objective/Summary.
3. Education.
4. Work Experience.
5. University Projects.
6. Extracurricular/Volunteer Experience.
7. Technical Skills.
8. Hobbies & Interests.

Resume Tips:

• List all experience in chronological order, starting most recent first.
• In Education, add when you expect to graduate (month/year) as this is important to employers.
• Don’t leave anything out. Yes, your student society and café experience is relevant.

• Keep the language powerful and positive. Make use of the Active Verbs resource found on page 10 of the Employability Career Prep Kit (PDF, 1.7 MB)
• Don’t overuse bullet points, bold fonts and underlining.
• If you have no work experience, focus on adding the detail of your Uni projects.
• Employers want to know 2 things about your experience: your actions and the impact you had. Consider writing a short paragraph describing your actions and keep bullet points only for drawing the eye to your impact under the heading ‘Achievements’.
• Consider adding your citizenship or nationality status.
• Add data to show the scale of your experience and impact i.e. mobilised a team of 6 volunteers, identified a saving of 10% time efficiency.
• Keep the format consistent throughout with the content aligned to the left hand side.
• Check and double check for spelling mistakes.

For the complete low down on resume writing, and feedback on how your resume measures up, access the online module ‘How to write a great resume and cover letter’ in Career Kickstarter