Careers Centre
Resume
Factsheet
A resume or curriculum vitae (CV) is a summary of your
education, experience, skills, achievements and referees.
They may be sent in response to a job advertisement or
sent directly to an employer to provide them with some
professional background information when enquiring about
graduate or employment opportunities. Resumes should be
short, well-researched, engaging, logical in order and relevant
to each job you are applying.
Short, researched and engaging
Resumes should be two pages in length. This is vital, due to
the large number of candidates that apply for jobs. If your
resume is longer than two pages it may be discarded.
Make sure you research the company you are applying to
before writing your resume. It is important that you tailor your
resume to each position that you apply for. This keeps the
document engaging and shows that you are using a targeted
job search rather than sending a generic resume to numerous
employers. Researching the company will also give you a
better understanding of how to format your resume.
Understandable sections
Resumes typically include the following sections:
Personal details - your name, email and contact number
Education history
Work experience - including voluntary work
Skills
Referees
You may also wish to include other sections if you feel they
are relevant. For example, a personal profile, memberships,
extra-curricular activities, achievements and awards, personal
interests and publications.
Skills or experience first?
The format of your resume depends on the position you are
applying for, the company and your previous experience
and education. If you are a graduate with little or no
relevant experience it may be beneficial to have a skills
section following your education, at the top of your resume.
This section will help sell your transferrable skills such as
communication, teamwork and leadership skills.
Graduates with more experience may want to include the skills
section on the second page. Whereas, mature age students
who have extensive experience in the workplace may also
wish to have a skills section towards the top of their resume
to summarise the technical and transferrable skills they have
gained.
Sample resume

Right align dates.

Most recent first.

Demonstrates
Order in priority. motivation
and industry
involvement.

Include
publications,
conferences and
presentations.

The University of Western Australia Careers Centre

If unclear, write about the organisation (~10 words). 1st Floor Student Central
Tel: +61 8 6488 2258
Email: careerscentre@uwa.edu.au
careers.uwa.edu.au