A resume is one of your key marketing tools.

As it is the document that communicates your skills, abilities, and personal qualities to prospective employers.  The primary purpose of the resume is to convey a message to the reader that will make them want to meet you.

It will include:

• A statement of what kind of work you want to do
• Your professional identity, key competences and unique strengths that differentiate you from other candidates
• Supporting material that include accomplishment stories to highlight your skills

When writing an resume it is important to understnad that the people who read resumes judge your resume on two aspects:

• The content: the information you provide about yourself
• The format and style: how you present that information

The typical job advertisement generates between 50 and 150 responses. 

In the process of reducing that number to a manageable group of qualified applicants, employers or consultants skim resumes for between 30 sec. - 3 mins each, looking for reasons to screen people out.  They will put your resume aside and your prospects for a job with it if they don’t like its content and/or format.

Content

The content of your resume is not intended to tell everything about you and your past. It is to provide employers with the information they need to determine whether you might be a good fit for the job they are trying to fill. The following guidelines will assist you in organising your thoughts and writing an understandable and convincing resume.

• List your name and contact details.
• Target your resume to the specific role for which you are applying. All statements made in your resume should support your objective.
• State your achievements firmly and strongly - this is not the place for modesty.  But do not over inflate your achievements and abilities.
• Use Accomplishment Statements. When writing these, think about the performance measures important to the profession. Carefully consider how you can quantify your goals and achievements.
• Don’t put your referees on your resume but state that they are available upon request.
• Don’t mention your current and/or seeking salary, bonus payments, superannuation contributions.
• Don’t mention reasons for leaving jobs.
• Don’t include copies of written references or qualifications unless you have been requested for them.

Format and style

Your resume must be concise, easy to read, accurate and focused. You must let the reader find out quickly and easily what you’ve done, where you have done it, over what period, and what you can do.

Resumes should always be typed and not hand written!

The following guidelines will assist you in writing an appealing and well presented resume.

• Keep your resume brief. It is a summary of your skills and experience!
• Include your name on all pages in case they become separated.
• Use dot points. Make sure that you condense ideas and eliminate unnecessary words.
• Avoid using abbreviations, “shoptalk”, initials and jargon.
• Avoid using personal pronouns such as “I, me, my, we, they”. Your resume will have a crisper, more professional sound.
• Ensure that your resume is well laid out containing plenty of ‘white space’ don’t put too much on one page. Use proper margins.
• Make sure you check your resume for spelling, grammatical errors, punctuations and typographic errors.
• Don’t include photos in your resume.
• Don’t use colours or visual “tricks” in your resume unless you are seeking roles such as advertising or graphic arts.
• Be consistent in following the same format and style in your resume!

Resume types

The two most common resume types are the chronological and the functional. Sometimes a combination of the two is used.

Chronological resume

The chronological resume is the most frequently used and accepted resume format. It lists work experience in reverse chronological order, outlining your employment history from the most recent job backwards with greater emphasis on the most recent job.

Functional resume

The functional resume format is designed to stress the qualifications of the job seeker, with less emphasis on specific employers and dates.

The functional format is particularly suitable for job seekers who want to make a significant change in their field or functional areas. The decision to use a functional resume should be carefully weighed because many employers are suspicious of them and prefer chronological resumes. Therefore it is suggested that you include your employment history in a functional resume (combination resume) but with less emphasis than in a chronological resume.