An Australian resume: show your work, not your whole biography

You can spend a long time improving a resume without answering the employer’s central question: what could this person do here? I prefer starting with one particular vacancy, not a template or heading colour. A good resume does not recount your entire life. It shows relevant experience.

Make the opening explain the fit

Include your name, phone number, email and city. Then briefly identify the work you seek and what you bring to it. Instead of “responsible, communicative and a fast learner”, I would describe tasks you have performed.

For example, “served customers and closed the till” tells an employer more than “extensive communication experience”. This is an example of wording, not an achievement to borrow: use it only if you actually did that work.

If availability matters, state it clearly. Work-rights information must accurately reflect your conditions. Do not promise a roster you cannot subsequently fulfil.

Experience from another country counts

List jobs from most recent to earliest. For each, choose a few duties or results relevant to the vacancy. Do not invent percentages to sound convincing; an honest, specific description is stronger than a fictional number.

A study project or volunteering can also demonstrate skills. Explain what you personally contributed. Study Melbourne’s job-search resources help prepare that story and examples for interviews.

Remove details that do not help assess your skills

For an ordinary application, I would leave out date of birth, marital status, passport details, TFN and bank information. A photograph is not universally compulsory; follow the role and employer’s instructions.

Early in your career, try presenting relevant experience in one or two pages. That is an editorial recommendation, not an Australian resume law. If the organisation requests another format or responses to selection criteria, follow those requirements.

References require permission

Ask before naming referees. Choose people who genuinely know your work: a supervisor, lecturer or project coordinator. You can provide contacts on request rather than distributing someone else’s information with every application.

A cover letter should not repeat the resume. I would connect two or three strengths to the advertised duties and explain why this particular role interests you.

Check it through the employer’s eyes

Open the completed file on both a phone and computer. Are your contacts visible? Is your latest work easy to understand? Check spelling, the company name and claims you cannot substantiate.

If a quick read explains why you should be invited to a conversation, the resume is doing its job. Design should support that answer, not obscure it.

Checked on 13 September 2026. Confirm format and requirements for each vacancy.