Your Career Action Plan is ready to guide you on your job search journey, but what you need now is an essential tool to take along. It’s time to develop a great resume.
Keep your resume brief but specific. It should be no longer than 2 pages long. The aim is to showcase your education, skills, experience, work history and accomplishments at a glance.
It’s worth spending some time on your resume layout to ensure that it is easy to read. Below is an outline of the elements of a resume with some formatting tips to get you started.
Header
Includes your name prominently displayed and your contact details.
Your Name (18pt)
E: Your email@host.com | M: +61 your number | State
Employment history
Describe your experiences within the last 10 years that are relevant to the position, including volunteering, and should be listed from most recent to oldest.
Organisation Name (14pt bold)
Position Title (12pt bold)
Start MM/YYYY – End MM/YYYY (12pt bold)
- Achievement – What you contributed to the role 1
- Achievement – What you contributed to the role 2
- Achievement – What you contributed to the role 3
Education
List education and qualifications from most recent to oldest. Do not include any qualifications that have expired.
Institution Name (14pt bold)
Course name (12 pt bold)
Year completed (12pt bold)
Skills
This section should be tailored to accurately reflect the essential and desirable criteria of the roles you are applying for. Important skills to highlight might include:
- Languages you are fluent in
- Technical skills related to specific software, programs or apps.
- Communications such as social media, written, verbal, etc.
Activities
This is an optional section consisting of a brief statement about your extra-curricular activities such as volunteering, sport, clubs or things that demonstrate community involvement.
Referees
Referees are people that your potential employer can contact to talk about your character. Avoid using family members as referees. Ideally, they should be current or previous direct supervisors, or teachers who were involved in your education.
Make sure that your referees know that you are using them as character references and that the contact details you provide are accurate and current.
Alternatively, you can include a statement like, ‘Referees are available on request’.