RESUME FORMAT

NAME
Contact details
Provide contact details only; other personal information such as age, marital status not
required.
For International students:
Residency - if planning to work in Australia and you have PR, then mention it here; if you
have work rights in Australia but not PR, you might say Valid Australian visa for full-time
work
Languages indicate fluency in English and other languages

PROFILE (optional)
A profile is a snapshot which pulls together key information about you, with particular
emphasis on what is relevant to the position. You might mention for example, your
qualifications, experience, key skills and/or attributes. A profile usually winds up with a
statement about your career objective. A profile should be very brief - if you try to mention
too much, it becomes a sort of list rather than a snapshot.
See below for examples.

OR
OBJECTIVE (optional)
An objective should indicate the sort of role in the sort of industry that you are seeking. The
statement should make a connection to your career interests and/or plans. You might refer
to some of the skills you have to offer, but the focus is on what you are looking for and where
youre headed. This needs to be compatible with the position and organisation you are
applying to.
See below for examples.

EDUCATION (core)

Tertiary
Dates

Name of Course/Qualification (in bold)

Institution
.........................
.........................
.........................

List each tertiary level course separately, starting with the most recent.
Use dot points to add more detail. This helps to differentiate your degree.
Might include Major or stream, other relevant subjects eg Breadth; GPA (if strong);
exchanges; scholarships; student rep roles (academic); relevant project work or major
assignments
For Honours students list your Honours course separately and give details of your thesis,
including title and give some details about what you did. How much detail and what detail
you give depends on relevance of your thesis work to the job you are applying for.

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Secondary
Dates

Name of Course/Qualification (in bold)

Institution
...........................
...........................

Use dot points to give more detail. Might include - ATAR, Year 12 awards, significant

leadership or specialist roles if relevant and recent eg Magazine Editor. Be selective

you dont want this section to be longer than the tertiary section.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
List any professional memberships. These include student memberships of professional
associations, or memberships of student professional associations.

EMPLOYMENT
Dates

Job Title (in bold)

Employing Organisation
One or two lines giving a snapshot of the organisation and its work
(optional but a good idea if organisation not well known)

................................................................................
................................................................................
................................................................................

List jobs in reverse chronological order

Use dot points to list tasks carried out - using statements starting with a verb. Use past tense
if job is not current; present tense if current
provided customer service ..
prepared information for clients
conducted phone surveys.....
Try to include some outcomes where appropriate eg conducted phone surveys and achieved
a consistently high response rate. Information about outcomes is best integrated with task
statements, rather than a separate section on achievements. Where possible and
appropriate, quantify outcomes.
Where you have an achievement which is substantial and is not tied to a specific task eg
gaining a promotion, you might include an Achievements subheading.

VARIATION: If you have relevant industry experience in whatever capacity, paid or

unpaid eg internships, relevant part-time or voluntary experience, consider using a
heading such as Relevant Experience or Industry Experience where you include any
experiences which are clearly specific to the field. Include other employment under
Other Employment, and other extra-curricular activities under Other Voluntary and
Extra-curricular Activities.

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VOLUNTARY WORK
Use the same format as for Employment section ie dates, role or job title and organisation,
and dot points to describe what you do/did. Remember that voluntary work can be just as
valuable as paid work depending on its relevance to the application.
If your voluntary work and your extra-curricular activities are in similar areas, you can
combine the two sections as: Voluntary and Extra-Curricular Activities

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES and INTERESTS

One section is sufficient to incorporate extra-curricular activities and interests as they tend
to revolve around the same areas. Particularly if you have a lot of activities, organise
activities under subheadings eg Community, Music, Sport.. This helps the reader to make
sense of who you are more easily than a long list of unrelated bits and pieces.

KEY SKILLS (optional)

A Key Skills section can be useful when you dont have obviously relevant experience but you
have acquired relevant skills in a variety of other contexts.
Focus on most relevant and significant skills (key skills) more is not necessarily better.
Skills might include generic skills from your University course, skills specific to your major,
skills acquired through work experience or extra-curricular activities, or skills acquired in your
personal life.
Always include computer skills and languages. If you are not including a Key Skills section
include them as Other Skills.
When describing skills, dont just list broad skill areas (research, communication); give some
detail about the specific skills which make up the skill area. For example with research skills
what does research entail? what can you actually do?

Research - using a range of sources including., able to evaluate sources, and

summarise and synthesize information from many sources
Writing able to write in a variety of styles and media including including academic
writing, blogging, professional emails, media releases and creative writing, for a
variety of purposes/audiences including

REFEREES (core)
It is usual to give 2 referees. Include: name, relationship, and contact details.
Best to provide details with your application rather than referees available on request this
can appear as though you havent made the effort.

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EXAMPLES
PROFILES
A profile is a snapshot which pulls together key information about you, with
particular emphasis on what is relevant to the position. You might mention for
example, your qualifications, experience, key skills and/or attributes. The profile
usually winds up with a statement about your career objective.
Profiles can presented as: full sentences, abbreviated sentences or dot points:
Example 1
I am a recent Bachelor of Arts graduate with Honours in Political Science. I have
extensive voluntary experience working in student politics on campaigns, and also
experience in office administration. My writing skills are particularly strong and
include ability to produce a range of materials including press releases, brochures
and research papers. I am highly motivated to start my career in the political field
working with the party to which I have a strong commitment.
OR
Recent Bachelor of Arts graduate with Honours in Political Science. Extensive
voluntary experience in campaigning in student politics. Strong writing skills including
ability to produce press releases, promotional material and research papers. Highly
motivated to launch my career in the political field by working for the Greens.
OR
Recent Bachelor of Arts graduate with Honours in Political Science
Extensive voluntary experience in campaigning in student politics.
Strong writing skills including ability to produce press releases, promotional
material and research papers
Highly motivated to launch my career in the political field by working for the
Greens.

Example 2
I am a Bachelor of Commerce graduate majoring in Marketing. I have recently
completed summer vacation experience in an established e-commerce company where
I honed my skills in coordinating and developing online marketing activities including
promotion, sales and communication. I have a keen interest in business and consumer
behaviour, and am passionate about commencing my career in the ever-expanding
consumer products and services sector.

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OR
Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) graduate. Recently completed summer vacation
experience in an established e-commerce company honing skills in coordinating and
developing online marketing activities including promotion, sales and communication.
Keen interest in business and consumer behaviour; passionate about commencing my
career in the ever-expanding consumer products and services sector.
OR
A recent Bachelor of Commerce graduate majoring in Marketing
Summer vacation experience with an established e-commerce company
Well-honed skills in coordinating and developing online marketing activities
including promotion, sales and communication
Keen interest in business and consumer behaviour
Passionate about commencing my career in the ever expanding consumer
products and services sectors

OBJECTIVES
An objective indicates the sort of role within the sort of industry or sector you are
seeking. The statement should make a connection to your career interests and/or
plans. You might refer to some of the skills you have to offer, but the focus is on
what you are looking for and where youre headed. This needs to be compatible with
the position and organisation you are applying to.

Seeking a career-entry role in public relations in the entertainment industry to

further develop and apply my skills in promotional writing and event
organisation.
Seeking a position with a non-government organisation which will enable me
to work on environmental policy to make the most of my skills in policy
analysis, research and writing, and my great commitment to environmental
advocacy.
Seeking a Graduate Marketing Officer role within an interactive agency
specialising in online marketing and advertising where I can apply my creative
and number crunching abilities to support the e-commerce functions of the
firm.
Further information
http://careers.unimelb.edu.au/student/applying_for_work/resumes

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