Australian Resume Guidelines - Provided to you by the Career Development Association of Australia - Career Development ...
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Australian Resume Guidelines
Provided to you by the
Career Development Association of Australia
Australia’s leading career development network
Prepared by Rebecca Fraser PCDAA
Updated May 2013
Resume Guidelines
Resume Purpose
The resume is an integral marketing document for individuals seeking to initiate or progress their career; or for
those simply seeking a new role. The resume has undertaken extensive transitions and changes over the years
to adapt to the Australian labour market demands and it is only through ongoing research and training that we
are able to support developing your understanding of a resume through this document.
Resume Formatting
Length - A resume should be no greater than 4 pages on average in Australia. There are some instances where
a resume may need to be longer than 4 pages; however a target length for a graduate should be 1 – 2 pgs, a
professional/mid level manager 3 – 4 pgs and a senior level executive in 3 – 5 pgs.
Font - It is recommended that a resume be formatted in a standard type font. This can include Verdana, Arial,
Garamond, Tahoma, Calibri etc. Decorative type scripts are difficult to read and not legible when utilising
scanning applications to extract the required content.
Font Size - Depending on the font, the size should be no smaller than a point 10 and no greater than a point 12
for the content. Headers can be greater in font size however should not be overly intrusive as the content is the
most important aspect of a resume.
NB: In professions where the artistic ability is important, the font used should be legible however may be more ‘artistic’ than
a standard professional resume format.
Writing Style
The overall writing style should ensure that the document is easily read and understood. The following
recommendations on writing style will assist in this:
Reverse Chronological order - The most important information is the most recent. For this reason, a resume
should always be presented in reverse chronological order with the most recent position clearly displayed first.
1st person without the personal reference - When wanting others to understand effectively what it is that you
achieved or undertook in recent positions, writing in the 1st person without a personal reference is the most
powerful. Writing in this manner ensures that you are emphasising what is being said rather than on who is
saying it. It allows for a sense of objectivity from the reader and allows the facts of the document to be clear.
Bullet points – Information must be easily accessible and clear. Bullet points are the most effective approach to
presenting information to achieve this. The bullet point should capture the information in as few words as
possible whilst capturing the reader’s attention.
Key words - Keywords relevant to the role, industry and individual should be included in a resume. These
keywords should describe the subjects’ activities including their accountabilities, responsibilities and
achievements. Key Words effectively describe an activity and make it easy for an individual to quickly determine
how the individual’s experience links to the industry and role requirements.
Resume Inclusions
Summary Information
Personal Details - Include a preferred name, home and/or mobile phone numbers and email addresses.
Career Objective - The career objective highlights what the subject is seeking and is suitable for graduates and
early career. This may also summarise what they bring with them prior to highlighting what the subject is seeking.
Career Profile - Opposite to an objective, the career profile is more a marketing statement and highlights the
subjects’ experience and background. This suits individuals undertaking a career transition or industry change or
for professionals seeking to immediately market their capabilities and skills.
Key Skills – Key skills includes the key professional skills that an individual will bring to a position or career.
These skills should align to the subjects’ proposed career direction and identify immediately what the
professional brings to their next position based on their capabilities.
Personal Attributes - Personal attributes are strengths that the individual brings with them to this position.
These should only be included for early career professionals.
Technical Skills - Technical skills includes software; hardware; operating systems; programming languages;
specialist techniques; and other relevant information that may be aligned to a specific or specialist industry. This
section suits individuals that are seeking employment in technically, scientific or trade based positions where
specific industry based skills are core to their role.
Employment Background
The subjects’ employment history for the last 10 – 15 years is the most relevant to their career progression. It is
up to the expert to confirm the relevance of all employment history and identify how far back to articulate in detail
to suit the subjects’ requirements. The following information may be highlighted throughout the employment
history:
• Start and End Dates • Responsibilities
• Organisation Name • Contributions
• Position Held • Accountabilities
• Organisation brief • Achievements
• Position brief
Qualifications - Qualifications include all education such as certificates, short courses and education relevant to
the role. All levels of education should be included however it is not recommended to include high school unless
the resume is a graduate level resume. Additionally, hobby related education that may be irrelevant to the
subjects’ professional career may also be an unnecessary inclusion.
Professional Referees – Referees can be a personal choice and it is up to the individual if they wish to include
this information. If professional referees are included provide:
• Referees Name • Organisation
• Relationship to subject (if relevant) • Contact phone number
• Position
Irrelevant Information
The following information are not necessary in an Australian resume:
• Date of Birth • Family/personal information
• Marital Status • Graduation dates
• Gender • Smoking/health status
Optional Inclusions
Optional information may include:
• Address – this should not be included if the location may be detrimental to the applicant
• Personal attributes – only to be included for graduates or high school leavers
• Hobbies – only to be included if the hobby links the individual to the industry or position they are
applying to. This may be utilised to support career or industry transition.
Important Information
Email addresses
• Email addresses with your year of birth will allow a recruiter to calculate your age
• Unprofessional or ‘joke’ email addresses can be detrimental to an application
E-Recruitment Technologies
There are a number of issues with resumes due to the introduction of e-recruitment tools including parser
technologies and for this reason all individuals seeking to obtain new employment must focus on the
development of their resume. Key issues to be aware of when developing your documents include:
• Information contained within the header and footer may not be able to be read by some e-recruitment
technologies.
• Tables, jpeg/image files and fields used within a resume may not be readable by some parser tools or
e-recruitment applications.
• PDF files may not be useable with some e-recruitment applications.
Disclaimer
Guidelines are developed to support the streamlining of practices across an organisation, or an industry. In particular, these
guidelines have been developed to support the increased awareness of the definition of a professional resume, the types of
resumes recommended for use within the Australian market and to support the increase in professionalism across the
Career Development Industry. With the increase in practitioners, as well as the transition from the traditional internal
recruitment model managed by organisations to outsourced recruitment, the industry is suffering from an increase in un-
educated and under qualified professionals which is impacting both the level of professionalism as well as service and
product quality. Through the introduction of these guidelines, and the endorsement of these, the industry is working towards
eliminating under performance and increasing the level of awareness and importance on remaining educated and up to date
with the industry requirements.
Prepared by Rebecca Fraser on behalf of the Career Development Association of Australia www.cdaa.org.auYou can also read
