You have found a job vacancy online and are keen to apply. You pull up your last resume, add in your most recent job, change a couple of dates and press “Apply Now”. STOP!

Writing a successful resume takes time. Most people consider a resume is a comprehensive document that is a showcase of all their qualifications, experience and skills. A resume is actually a summarised version of your relevant qualifications, experience and skills. The main purpose of a resume is to get you an interview. First and foremost a resume is a marketing document.

Like all marketing documents, how your resume is formatted is extremely important. This is the first impression you are giving the Hiring Manager. If it does not impress them at first glance they may not even read it. A resume is a professional formal business document. Best practise resumes use a standard business font and use three colours, black, black and black!

Next, consider what information is most relevant to your audience, the hiring manager. What does the hiring manager want to know and in what order? Refer back to the job advertisement or position description, review what they are have asked for in the requirements, selection criteria or “How to Apply” section. Note that this is not the list of the role or job responsibilities, this is a common mistake. The job or role responsibilities are the tasks the winning applicant will perform once they are fully functioning in the role. At this stage, you are focusing on getting an invite to the interview.

Another common mistake is leaving off valuable experiences from a resume because it was not paid employment.Whether your experience is paid, community work, volunteer roles, placements, university projects or an interest, consider its relevance. If it is relevant then ensure it is towards the front of your document.

Finally, resumes are ideally up to four pages long unless the hiring manager has requested a page limit. Make note of this page limit, keep within the number of pages stated or your application will not be considered.

For these tips and more, check out the following sites and of course refer to our Resume and Resume Checklist information sheets on the CareerHub Resources tab.