Tips on preparing a resume:

• Use white A4 paper and print it on one side only.
• Print it in black type and the same font as your cover letter.
• You can use borders, lines and simple images to make your resume stand out but remove these (or have a second resume) if the job advertisement asks for a resume with no decoration.
• Don't include your nationality, birth, age, gender or marital status; but do state if you do not have Australian Citizenship or Residency.
• Include your contact details at the top of the resume.
• Don't use bold and underline together—it can look messy and makes text harder to read.
• Use bullet points to list duties, as they are easier and quicker to read.
• Focus the resume for the job you are applying for. Include the skills and experience that are in the job description.
• Include some benefit statements either at the front of your resume or in the employment summary. Benefit statements show the employer how your skills can benefit the organisation and can be impressive. For example:
  • Managed a team of production staff, increasing productivity by 20% over twelve months.
  • Streamlined the stock ordering system that improved the efficiency of the department and product sales.
  • Developed a series of office procedures that increased accuracy from 60% to 99%.
• In the duties list for each past job use strong action statements that sell your skills. For example:
  • Managed the business accounts for the state, handling over 200 client portfolios -instead of - Looked after the business accounts for clients.
  • Used Microsoft Excel to prepare charts and formula-based spreadsheets -instead of - Created spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel.
• You can include your interests but be careful of what you put down as these can say a lot about the type of person that you are. For example:
  • If you say you enjoy kick boxing, wrestling and karate you might give the employer the impression that you are an aggressive person even if you are not.
  • If you say you like to read, do pottery, write and surf the Internet then this won't look good if the job requires an outgoing, sociable person with sales skills.
• Change your word processing Spellchecker to Australian. Most software is made in the US and the spellchecker will default to US unless you change it. Don't use the US Spellchecker or your 'organises' will come out as 'organizes' and the company will think you don't know Australian spelling.
• After spellchecking your resume print it off and read it through. It can be surprising how many errors you find. Proofreading documents on screen is very difficult and the glare from the screen tricks the eyes. Don't rely on this. Make sure you check your resume for mistakes. A resume full of mistakes tells the reader that you cannot spell.