Resume tips

Your resume is probably the most important tool you have to sell yourself to a future employer.

So it is essential that it impresses the employer enough to get you an interview.

Here are some tips that may help you to write a great resume.

• Resumes shouldn’t be approached in a “one size fits all” matter: Modify your resume to fit the job. Make sure you target your skills and experiences to the particular job you are applying for.
• Make sure your resume is easy to read: Keep the layout simple - don’t complicate with boxes, highlighting and difficult to read fonts.  Times New Roman or Arial are probably the best fonts to use.
• Check the spelling and grammar: Don’t rely on computer spell checks!  Have someone else read it before you send it off.
• Use action words: Add power to your resume, use words such as implemented, designed, compiled, achieved, activated, helped, handled etc but make sure you use these where appropriate.
• Don’t include personal information: Such as age, height, marital status unless you think it will be to your advantage.
• Self promote: Employers want to know you are capable of doing the job so list your accomplishments, skills and abilities – just make sure they’re relevant!
• Keep it short: Keep your resume as short as possible.  For school leavers, 2 pages is fine, for others it should be no longer than 5 pages.
• Keep it relevant:  People returning to work after a break should not include work history that is more than 10 years old.
• Include your contact details: Home phone, mobile, fax, email.
• Education and training:  Outline your education and training accomplishments starting from your most recent qualifications.  This can include university, TAFE training, industry courses, in-house courses and any other professional training.  Unless you're straight out of school don't include your high school history.
• Hobbies and Interests:  If you want to include this place it before the Referees section.
• Referees: You can list these or note that referee details are available on request.