writing a resume

It’s a great idea to speak to a careers counsellor or enrol in a job search training course to help you with this.

You will learn about:

• Resume writing

• Networking - using family, friends, word of mouth, other contacts

• Checking for jobs on websites, in newspaper

• Being Persistent

• Registering for work with job placement agencies (jobactive), Group Training Companies (GTO)

• Cold calling employers by phone and visit

• Employability/Foundation skills
  
  

Log on to My Skills to check out training organisations that offer these courses.

Prepare your Resume

Your resume is one of the most important tools in your job search. While interviewing skills, industry-related knowledge, and practical skills are important as well, you’ll never have the opportunity to demonstrate these if you don’t have a well written resume.

Your resume is the very first impression you make on your prospective employer. If you do a poor job of it, this will also be the only impression the company ever gets of you. Poorly written resumes may hit the rubbish bin before they’ve even been read through. Your resume needs to stand out as clean, clear, and concise from the very first glace.

If your resume goes on for several pages, has a layout that’s difficult to read, or has spelling errors, you’ll never get a call for an interview. A well-written and visually pleasing resume will probably be read by the hiring manager. If your qualifications look as good as the overall presentation, you’ll be on your way to the interview stage.

Reference: Benefits of a well written resume

What should be included in a resume?

Use your resume to communicate the most important features of yourself as a potential employee. You need to write about your work experience, skills, qualifications, interests and attributes.

How to build your own resume

There are many websites that provide information, templates and other resources to help you create your own unique resume. A useful and simple tool is the interactive Resume Builder program at Skillsroad. Another website, SEEK, has helpful advice on writing resumes and covering letters.

Applying for specific positions

Employers receive many letters and get very good at scanning applications for key information. The information that’s important to them is whether you meet the criteria for the job through:

• your skills and abilities;
  
  
• your background and experience;
  
  
• your personal profile; and/or
  
  
• your training and academic track record.
  
  

There are many ways to highlight that you are the right person for the job. Focus on what the employer is looking for and show them – initially through your covering letter and then in more detail through your resume – that you are the ideal candidate.