Job Preparation Hub

Preparing Your Resume

Fitted for Work
www.fittedforwork.org
03 9662 4289

© Fitted for Work 2020

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Contents
How to prepare your resume 4
Useful tips for writing your resume 4
Mistakes to avoid 4
What to leave off your resume 5
Formatting guidelines 6
How to structure your resume 6
Filing tips 11
Final resume checklist 12
Locations 14
Websites 14
Social 14
Endnotes Error! Bookmark not defined.

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How to prepare your resume
Your resume is a way to showcase your experience, skills and achievements to employers – it
is an advertisement for you. Think of it as your personal pitch to an employer, so don’t sell
yourself short! Use this guide as a starting point, however, your resume shouldn’t be one-size-
fits-all. You’ll need to tailor your resume to the role and job type to increase your chances in
securing an interview.

Useful tips for writing your resume

• Use keywords from the job advertisement and/or position description to show you’re the
ideal candidate.
• Ensure your Professional Summary reflects your experience and skills relevant to the role
and job type you’re applying for.
• Highlight your achievements and successes! Where possible, quantify results that
measure your success.
• Keep information relevant, to-the-point and concise – hiring managers tend to spend only
6-7 seconds per resume, so focus on your key information.
• Use active language throughout, such as “managed,” “implemented,” “initiated,”
“resolved,” “developed.”

Mistakes to avoid
• Too long. Hiring managers want to be able to capture critical information at a glance –
they can look at hundreds of resumes and simply don’t have time to read every resume
from start to finish – they’ll be looking for resumes that are relevant and stand out from
the rest.
• Inconsistent formatting, including font style and size, colour and bullet points. Getting this
right will make it much easier for the hiring manager to read and will demonstrate your
eye for detail.
• Poor spelling and grammar. Ensure you do a thorough spelling and grammar check and
ask someone else to look over it for you.
• Lacking specific details. It’s important you provide an employer with specific context and
detail around what you’ve done and accomplished. For example, rather than saying

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 “Supervised a team” say “Recruited, hired, trained and supervised 20 employees.” The
second example will grab an employer’s attention.
• Not tailoring your resume. Recruiters and employers will be able to tell a generic resume
from a targeted one. By taking the extra steps to tailor your resume to the job role you’re
demonstrating why you’re the right fit for the position, as well as your enthusiasm for the
job – therefore increasing your chances at securing an interview!
• Gaps are not explained. It’s very common for applicants to have taken breaks in their
work lives due to travel, illness, caring, parenting and many other reasons. Be honest and
transparent, address this in your resume; however, you do not have to go into specific
detail. Please ask for our resource on ‘How to Explain Employment Gaps.’
• Using your current work email address or unprofessional sounding personal email
address. The email address you use is one of the first things that an employer will notice,
so be sure it reflects the professional you, not your personal or family life.
• Not following the submission requirements. Always follow the instructions in the job
description, e.g. which documents are required, referee details – adhere to these to show
you have attention to detail.

What to leave off your resume

• Personal details such as date or place of birth, nationality, age, gender, marital status,
religion, health status, height, weight, details about children/partner/family, political
affiliation.
• Your address. If you are applying for a job in your local area, then it may be an advantage
to include your suburb only. However, some employers may make assumptions about
your location and how far you are willing to travel or relocate for a role.
• Reasons for leaving previous job.
• Current or past income details or salary expectations.
• Weaknesses.
• Every job you’ve ever had. Employers will focus on your most recent 10 – 15 years works
experience. Also, not every job will be relevant to the role you’re applying for now.
• False or misleading statements.
• Secondary education (unless you are a graduate). Recruiters and employers are
interested in recent and relevant qualifications that complement the job description.
• Hobbies and personal interests, unless the activity is directly related to the position or
industry you are applying for.

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Formatting guidelines
• The optimal length for a resume is currently 2-3 pages. There are some circumstances
where 4 may be necessary, e.g. an academic role where publications and research need
to be listed.
• Keep your format simple, clean and professional – readability is key.
• Use a standard font style such as Calibri, Arial or Helvetica at a font size between 10 and
12.
• Use bold for headings to make these stand out on the page and make it easier to skim.
• Use standard style bullet points to break up the content.
• A cover page is not required; however, a Cover Letter is – please refer to our ‘Cover Letter
Guide.’
• Avoid including key information in headers, footers and tables, as it may not be readable
by e-recruitment tools.
• Avoid using complicated or cluttered layouts that may not look right when viewed on
different computer systems with varying software versions.
• Always send as a PDF, unless otherwise specified.
• When printing your resume use plain white paper in A4 size.
• Please refer to our Resume Template for further guidance.

How to structure your resume

Personal Details
Personal details are first: include your full name and contact details (preferred email address
and main contact number). If you have a LinkedIn page or personal website, include these
URLs in your contact section as well. No need to include the heading ‘Resume,’ or ‘CV.’

Professional Summary
This is a short paragraph and summary of your experience, that demonstrates your key skills
and strengths. Use keywords from the job ad/position description. Highlight any achievements
which will make you stand out. Keep it concise, specific and use compelling language.

For example:

Resourceful and detail-oriented customer service professional who consistently meets and
exceeds productivity goals. Proven capacity to troubleshoot issues to resolve issues efficiently.

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Maintains a high level of professionalism, patience and proficiency to minimise customer
dissatisfaction and increase customer loyalty.

Highly dedicated and trained Disability Support Worker with experience in providing
professional care service to clients in order to meet their physical and emotional needs; to
successfully help them to retain, regain and develop skills needed for independent living.
Skilled in handling difficult and tense interpersonal situations efficiently and safely combined
with effective interpersonal, communication and problem-solving skills.

Experienced Retail Manager with strengths in customer service, sales and negotiations.
Proven skills in marketing, advertising, product integration and promotions. Successful in
developing strategies that have resulted in an over 20% increase in new customers.
Instrumental in developing an incentives rewards program with a repeat customer success
rate of over 45%.

Key Skills (Optional)

This is an opportunity to give a snapshot of your key competencies. Focus on skills that are
relevant to the job and use keywords from the job ad/position description. Where possible,
offer evidence to demonstrate how you’ve used each skill.

Use bullet points for your key skills – you won’t be able to cover everything, just the highlights
(5 or 6 dot points). For example:

• Excellent problem-solving skills developed through 7 years working in client-facing roles

• Effective listening and communication skills to be able to interact positively with a variety
of people
• Exceptional attention to detail gained through accurately compiling, sorting and verifying
high volumes of data
• Accustomed to working in fast-paced environments with the ability to think quickly and
successfully handle difficult clients
• Ability to resolve problems by researching customer complaints and following up to
ensure satisfactory resolution
• Collaborative team member, active participant in performance management for continual
professional development
• Critical thinker with strong analytical skills
• Effective problem-solving skills, evaluation and conflict resolution skills
• Demonstrated ability to deal with unpredictable situations and behaviour

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Employment History
List and provide details of your work experience, beginning with the most recent position. This
should include the position/job title, employer name, dates employed, key responsibilities and
achievements. For example:

Position

Company

Year/s worked

Responsibilities:

• Xyz
• Xyz
• Xyz

Achievements:

• Xyz
• Xyz
• Xyz

Follow this format for each role you held and focus on your recent 10 – 15 years of experience.
When describing your responsibilities, use a strong action verb to start each responsibility and
keep the tense consistent throughout, e.g. “managed,” “resolved,” “developed,” “liaised.”
You want to be descriptive when describing your key responsibilities - don’t assume the
employer already knows what you do. Give information about the type of work you
performed. For example, “Managed a team of 5 Account Managers, including recruiting, hiring
and training new staff members on internal procedures and processes.”

If you have had recent breaks in your working life for an extended period, list the dates and
state this time as Career Break, Family/Caring Responsibilities, Study or Travel as appropriate.

A way to make your resume stand out from other applicants is to include your achievements
for each role. An achievement is unique to your experience and tells the employer that you
can deliver. Think about what you did that was above and beyond your day-to-day
responsibilities; how did you stand out, did you receive any awards or accolades, did you
implement new processes, solve a particular problem, save the company money, or
consistently meet or exceed goals or quotas? Try to quantify your achievements where
possible.

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Some examples are:

• Hired, trained, and supervised 15 new staff

• Provided exceptional support to managers and co-workers, hence increased the overall
efficiency by 30%
• Demonstrated professional etiquette and manners, improving positive customer
feedback by 40%
• Promoted to supervisor of the phone after 6 months of starting and assigned additional
duties of liaison between multiple departments for escalated customer issues
• Devised and implemented interactive activities designed especially for aged people to
assist with confidence building and independence
• Ability to proactively respond to the physical, emotional needs of clients, liaising with
other health care professionals, family members and carers to ensure they are all abreast
of progress and changes
• Successfully met customer needs in this fast-paced café using my well-developed time
management and effective communication skills
• Selected to perform and document stock rotation and control while adhering to food
storage and hygiene regulations
• Implemented and maintained an inventory of all cleaning supplies and communicated
needs to management ensuring that all supplies were always fully stocked and available
to all staff
• Awarded Employee of the Month in April and August 2019

Qualifications & Training

List any formal qualifications you have completed and include the title, institution and dates
listing the most recent qualification first.

For example:

• Bachelor of Engineering, University of New South Wales, current

• Bachelor of Nursing, RMIT, 2019
• Certificate III in Business, TAFE NSW, 2018
• Certificate IV in Disability, CQUniversity, 2005

There is no need to include secondary education (unless you are a graduate) as it won’t be of
importance to hiring managers – their priority is recent and relevant qualifications that are
relevant the job description. For your earlier qualifications, if you would prefer not to disclose

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your completion date to avoid the potential for age discrimination then you can leave off the
year.

Certifications & Licences

Here is where you include the short courses or internal training that you have completed
throughout your employment, such as manual handling training, OHS training, software
training; certificates you have completed such as first aid or languages; any security checks
such as Working With Children Check, or licences such as your current driver’s licences, or
heavy vehicle licence.

For example:

• Senior First Aid Certificate, current

• CPR Certificate, current
• Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA), 2019
• Manual Handling Certificate, 2018
• Customer Service Excellence, 2017
• Current Victorian Driver’s Licence
• National Police Check
• Working with Children Check
• Fluent in English, Arabic and French

Volunteer Work
Adding your volunteer experience can highlight your initiative and transferable skills if you’re
changing careers, have a career gap in your resume or if you have limited work experience.
Consider whether adding volunteer work will add value to your resume or set you apart from
other candidates.

Depending on its relevance to the job type/industry you’re applying for you, you could add
these roles within your Employment History – include your title, the company/organisation
name, and bullet point your top responsibilities and achievements for each volunteer role.
Otherwise you could include a separate volunteer work section following your qualifications.

For example:

• Title/Role, Institution Name

• Responsibilities & Achievements

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References
For confidentiality reasons, there is no need to list your referees’ details unless specifically
requested in the position description, in which case always follows the instructions given. You
can simply state ‘References available on request’ or choose not to include this statement. A
hiring manager will expect you to have references ready. Another exception to this would be
if you believe a specific referee would add value to your application. For example, if you are
applying for a job at a local council and a counsellor is one of your referees.

Create a reference list in a separate, professional document so that once you are asked by a
potential employer you can send their details. If the employer asks you after a successful
interview for your referees’ details, it gives you the opportunity to let your referees know
when to expect a call and to brief your referee with details of the job you’re applying for. You
want to forewarn your referee so that they are prepared and can provide the best reference
possible for you. When providing your referee details, ensure you include all their up-to-date
information including:

Full name

Company

Position title

Mobile and/or email

Give some thought to who you might ask to be a referee, such as previous managers or
colleagues, former lecturers/teachers, a mentor, intern supervisor, or a family friend who is
senior and well respected in the community – someone who can speak to your skills and
qualities and how you added value to your role / to the company. Always ask if they would be
willing to be a referee and brief them with details of the job you’re applying for and your up-
to-date resume. Once you have an idea of when they might be contacted, ensure you give
ample warning so they’re fully prepared when they receive the call.

Filing tips
• Develop a filing system on your computer for your resumes; create a separate folder for
your resumes to keep track of the different versions.
• Give your document an appropriate name such as:
o Anna Jones Resume 2020
o Anna_Jones_Resume
o Anna-Jones-Resume
o Anna_Jones_Resume_Telstra_2020

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• Each time you edit or change your resume, go to Save As to save as a new document with
edited information. This will help you to keep track of your versions as you update your
resume.
• If you’re applying for multiple roles, organise by sub folders for each application e.g.
“Telstra – Customer Service Assistant,” “Operations Manager – McGrath.”
• If you’re applying across different industries, you can organise by sub folders, e.g.
“Administration Resumes,” “Hospitality Resumes,” “Aged Care Resumes.”
• Always convert and send your resume as a PDF document – this will ensure your
formatting remains the same when viewed on any operating system or software.

Final resume checklist

• Overall appearance – is it professional, clear and easy to read?
• Does your career summary reflect your experience and skills relevant to the role you’re
applying for?
• Is formatting consistent, including font type, size, headings, spacing and bullets? Do key
points stand out and guide the reader’s eye using bolded headlines and bullet points with
a good balance of text and white space?
• Length – could it be shortened?
• Sections – are sections placed in the best order to highlight your experience, skills and
qualifications? Have you listed your most recent job first?
• Does your resume include achievements? Are these quantified using numbers,
percentages, dollar amounts?
• Relevance – have you included all relevant experience, skills and qualifications?
Remember you also want to highlight transferable skills from previous experiences such
as time management, leadership, work ethic, etc.
• Keywords – have you included keywords from the job ad/position description?
• Spelling and grammar – have you proofread your resume? Have a trusted friend or family
member check over your resume to avoid any errors.

Fitted for Work offers Virtual (phone, video and email) and Face-to-Face (VIC & NSW)
appointments to help you get started on, develop or tailor your resume – get in touch via
phone or email to make an appointment

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 Locations
National Office Sydney
513 Bridge Road, 37 & 38a, 70 Phillip Street,
Richmond Parramatta
03 9662 4289 02 9635 9909
info@fittedforwork.org sydney@fittedforwork.org

Websites
Fitted for Work www.fittedforwork.org

The Conscious Closet www.theconsciouscloset.org.au

SheWorks www.sheworks.org.au

Social
Fitted for Work twitter.com/fittedforwork
instagram.com/fittedforwork
linkedin.com/company/fitted-for-work

The Conscious Closet instagram.com/theconsciouscloset

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