Resumes / Curriculum Vitae

Using power words or action words and talking about your contributions can completely transform your resume or curriculum vitae.  To demonstrate this, I have taken a free resume template example from an unqualified resume writer on the Internet and completely transformed this by re-wording the content.

Note:  I have made up the outcomes/contributions within the example and framed this example within a few minutes.  My objective was to simply demonstrate how using power wording and thinking in an outcomes focussed way can enhance your resume or curriculum vitae. [Read more…] about Transforming your resume with power words

Australian resumes are unique, and in this article I quickly outline some of the key characteristics of the modern Australian resume.

Length of the Australian Resume

In Australia, we like our space and this love affair with space is also evident in our resumes.  If you undertake a search on how to prepare a resume, so often you end up on career sites that make a strong suggestion as to the length of your resume.  Please IGNORE those sites that advise you to limit your resume to one or two pages, as usually these are American or UK sites where the recruiting practices are different from those prevalent in Australia.

Instead, focus on a resume that truly reflects your skills and experience and even if this takes five pages, so be it (unless a page limit is imposed by the employer).  HOWEVER, make sure you don’t waffle, and don’t include information that is not required, repetitive, or irrelevant.

Note: The average length of an Australian resume is usually anything between three and five pages long.

Brag in a subtle but effective way

In Australia, we are lousy at bragging about ourselves, but not as low key about telling the world how great we are on paper as the English.  We are probably half way between the Americans and the English in how we talk about our accomplishments and achievements.

So if you are creating a resume for Australia, make sure you really focus on contributions and achievements, but don’t go over the top with the language.

Objectives are just ‘oh so old fashioned’

In Australia our love affair with objectives within a resume is coming to an end.  Instead the modern Australian resume usually incorporates a profile, which outlines the skills, knowledge and experience that meets the needs of the employer.

Personal data is no longer required within resumes

In Australia, there is a large trend away from providing any personal details, such as date of birth and marital status.  While in Australia, there is a raft of legislation protecting candidates from discriminatory practices, most professional resume writers, don’t include personal information that could unnecessarily place their client in a position of being ‘pigeon holed’ by employers and selection panel members, or indirectly discriminated against.   In Australia, the following details are usually left out of the resume, unless these personal attributes will enhance the application.

• Date of birth
• Martial status and number of children
• Photographs, no matter how photogenic you are
• Personal data, such as health status, height and weight
• Interests and hobbies
• Photocopied written references attached at the end of your résumé.  Save these for the interview, unless specifically requested in the application form.

Formatting trends

Yes content is KING – but equally important is the formatting of your document.

In Australia we tend to be conservative, so it is important to use a conservative formatting style.  This includes being consistent in design treatments, adding white space, breaking up lengthy paragraphs, using bullet points to highlight skills and achievements balancing the resume top-to-bottom and left-to-right and using no more than 2 font styles.

Christmas is coming and this is the quiet time for head hunting, hiring and recruitment activities. But before you wind down your job search to zero or give up, keep in mind, while not so many jobs get advertised, some companies are still hiring over the holiday period. What this means to you as a job hunter, is that contrary to what most people tell you, this could be the perfect time to get your resume or selection criteria in front of a decision-maker who need to hire a person as a matter of urgency, (plus you face less competition as less job seekers looking). So keep on looking.

The holiday period is also a perfect time to prepare for a future job hunt. Use the time to:

Take a good hard look at your resume and selection criteria

Like it or not, these documents are your key to obtaining an interview and your only chance to make a good first impression. Competition is really tough for some jobs, so before you put pen to paper, make sure you are suitably qualified so you are only targeting those jobs in which there is a good chance that a well-written application will get you through to interview. If applying for a government job, I strongly suggest that you touch base with the contact officer and obtain more information about the position, including ascertaining whether someone is acting in the position, so you can gauge your competition. Once you have obtained the relevant information, set aside at minimum a whole day so you can write strong evidence based responses to selection criteria.

In terms of your resume, effective resumes are highly focused marketing pieces that must be strategically written and designed to sell YOU as the best solution to potential employer’s needs and problems. Both your resume and selection criteria, must illustrate your unique value proposition that will differentiate you from your competitors in the job market. Do your documents accomplish these goals? Are they outcomes focussed? Do they accurately represent you in the way you wish to be presented?

If not, it is time to rewrite these documents, as poor marketing documents might be the key reason why you are not securing interviews.

Use the downtime to start networking

If you are working at a company where the holiday season is a slow one, take advantage. If on holiday, take the time to use your network of acquaintances and contacts to network. The holiday season is a great excuse to get in touch and let your contacts know you are on the market for a job. For example:

• Send a Christmas card to networking contacts, recruiters and to employers that could help you with your job search.
• Connect with your professional network online via LinkedIn. The season to be merry is a great excuse to touch base and reinforce or expand your network.

If networking freaks you out, remember that networking is not about asking for a job, you are simply asking for referrals or advice from people that might be able to assist you. I mean, would you be upset if someone you knew contacted you to inform you of their job search and asking for some advice, or to point them in the right direction during the silly season? Of course not, in fact you would probably be very flattered, so why not use this method as a way to discover new opportunities and network your way into a position?

Use the holiday to research job prospects

This is the perfect time to undertake research on various opportunities that will be available in the short-term future. Use the time constructively and research companies over the Internet. This is a great time to get information relating to whether a company is experiencing growth, or compile a list of the right contact person within your targeted companies. Remember, companies experiencing growth need to hire and won’t stop hiring over the holiday season. Even though holidays are bunched up at this time of year, if a business has competitive pressures, are growing markets or undertaking a new strategic initiative they are not going to stop hiring because of Santa Clause.

Ask any professional resume writer and what they enjoy most is transforming a resume from a chronological work history, to a document that effectively markets a client.  Done correctly, your resume is your ultimate marketing tools and will substantially increase the odds in your favour of securing an interview.  Below are some of the key strategies that I use to transform client resumes.

Select Accomplishments / Selected demonstrable examples

The key word I use as a professional is select and it is used frequently on purpose.  This word successfully implies that you have many more accomplishments to list, or many more examples that you could incorporate into your responses to selection criteria.  In your selection criteria, just add – Selected demonstrable examples include and then insert your STAR’s or CAR’s.  In your resume, just bullet the top 3 – 5 accomplishments that are relevant to the job you want to land.  Make sure you use short phrases and action words.    For example:

• Instrumental in growing temp hours by 150% to 300% consistently exceeding consultant quotas by 150% or more.
• Architect of new benchmark assessment process within the industry, which significantly improved candidate quality and reduced the pool of unsuitable candidates.
• Drove business development with key clients, including successfully securing preferred supplier agreements.

Special Skills / Relevant Skills

You can use the term special or relevant, since it implies that you have more skills, but the ones you have listed are unique to the potential employer’s needs.

Other Work History / Prior Employment

Use this heading if you want to disguise very old work history, but this old work history it is still relevant to the position you are applying for.  Just list the various positions, without inserting the dates, after your more current work history.  For example:

PRIOR EMPLOYMENT:

Hanimex (NZ) Limited – Importing & Costings Clerk / Secretary to Sales Manager

Delivered top-level secretarial support and juggled multifaceted administrative tasks, including accurate costings and completion of weekly consignments, letters of credit, liaison with Customs Agents and general administration.

FC Mathews & Sons Limited – Sole Charge Office Manager

Autonomously managed a range of tasks, from general bookkeeping, wages, reception, bank reconciliations, through to ensuring a superior level of customer service. 

Graphics and symbols that add punch

Add a chart, which demonstrates a quantitative improvement, for example in sales. (Just ensure the chart only takes up a small amount of space on your document).

Use symbols, such as %, rather than percentage and $, rather than dollars, and numbers, namely $1,000,000 rather than one million dollars to emphasise your achievements.  Both symbols and numbers tend to jump off the page, when employers scan your documents.

Use bold to highlight key words

Bold key words, for maximum impact in your resume or selection criteria, as this is a great tactic to get reader’s to slow down and take notice.  For example:

Top performing consultant for the whole of New Zealand (consistently in 1^st position for the North Island or 2^nd overall for the whole of New Zealand).

Use online resources to write your job descriptions

Why reinvent the wheel when developing descriptions for your jobs in your resume and selection criteria.  So long as you don’t plagiarise material, the Internet is a great source for obtaining job descriptions that make you sound like a real wiz.

Mirror the employer’s language and requirements

Your resume and your responses to the selection criteria are actually not about YOU.  Yes, you heard me – they are not about YOU – they are about what you can offer THEM (the employer and agency).  Once you understand this vital principle, then you can start creating a document that meets their needs and the best way to do this, is to simply mirror their requirements, right down to the language they use.  So if they require someone with a bubbly personality, list one of your personal features in your cover letter, as a bubbly personality.  It is all about creating the linkage between what THEY require and what YOU can offer.