Writing a great resume

Your resume has one purpose - to make an employer want to interview you. It is therefore a sales document, and should be concise and easy to read.

Remember, a future employer sees hundreds of these every day - if your resume is too long, too wordy, or in a hard to read font, then it is likely to be overlooked.

Keep your resume to 2 pages if you can. If your work history stretches much beyond that then consider summarising it and adding a note that you have a full resume available too.

A good format to keep in mind is as follows:

• Name
• Contact details
• Profile - a short paragraph stating "what you are" and what you want
• Employment history - most recent first
• Education history - most recent first
• Courses - relevant professional courses you have attended
• Skills - e.g., software proficiency
• References - state minimum of 2 professional references

Things not to put on your resume include:

Salary details – this may hinder future salary negotiations, or cause an employer to make judgements about you at an early stage.

Reasons for leaving jobs – this is not always relevant or necessary, and some situations are more complex than can be explained in a line or two.

A photograph – this is unnecessary, and may cause an employer to make judgements about you.

Your date of birth / marital status / religion – this information is also unnecessary and may lead to judgements or assumptions about you.

Useful tips

Be specific with dates and always include month and year.

Include as much detail as you can on relevant jobs, and do not labour the point on jobs that are irrelevant to the role for which you are applying. If you have worked as a cashier for four years throughout university then include this information, but be careful not to include more detail on this than on your studies and your engineering/ technical work experience.

Think about your audience and tailor your resume accordingly.

Use clear fonts and bold typeface/ underlining to make the sections distinct and easy to read.

Remember to proof read and spell check the final document.