How to create the perfect resume format!

Resume writing is a controversial subject. Professional resume writers at The Perfect Resume describe their skills as creative, formal and satisfying. They like the experience of writing The Perfect Resume as writing the summary of an engaging famous person's bibliographic novel. They find out your motivation, what drives you, what passions you have and what amazing skills, talents and overall achievements you have to your name. They take all this information and complete it creatively and formally. Then with a satisfactory level of pride then proofread it, polish it, add formatting and a modern style and ask themselves "Would I hire this person?" If the answer is "no" there is more refining work to be done, until they sit back, smile and say, "This person has the job!".

Our Professional Resume Writers have perfected the art of resume writing. Would you like to know some of their secrets?

Length

Having a resume longer than 2-3 pages is the principal mistake people make when preparing their own resume. You have approximately six seconds to impress your new employer. As a general rule, resumes should be no longer than two pages. Documents should rarely exceed three pages unless you are an executive, they require the third page! 

Ask  yourself, is your resume far too long?

Bullet points

Ask yourself, if you have seconds to engage the reader, how can I catch their attention quickly? Using bullet points help to improve the scan-ability of the document and make the information more results orientated. Keep in mind when information filters through to the ATS, bullet points often look messy. You can omit the bullet line and use formatting to create subtitles instead.

Eliminate the fluff

Unnecessary details should be removed. We look at every sentence and ask "Does this help the individual get the job?" If the answer is no, it is deleted. Ask yourself, are you keeping information on your resume for your own sentimentality or is it value-added to the recruiter?

Make your history relevant!

We concentrate on recent history and summarise older information. If the job is more than ten years ago, the detail is removed altogether. Employers are only interested in what you have done most recently, however a career summary maybe included to add a level of experience and knowledge in an industry if required. 

Eliminate your personal interests.

Real estate on your resume is precious when you have two pages. Does "enjoys reading" help you get the job? Probably not unless you are applying for a librarian position. In this case, it would be included in the personal profile. Australian resumes have moved towards the American standard which precludes this section.

Remove references

Like above, you're better off handing a separate page for references rather than cluttering up your resume with peoples contracts. If you would still like to include them, use as little space as possible. 

Be private

Including your D.O.B material status, nationality, the number of children you gave birth to and scarily, the reasons you left previous positions is now considered extremely archaic and definitely not recommended. Given modern discrimination legislation, these details are simply not relevant.

Spelling and grammar

Your language in your resume needs to be Formal English this is absolutely mandatory. Your cover letter and LinkedIn profile can be more informal. Australian spelling should be used e.g. "organised" is preferable to " organized"

Use a modern design.

The days of black and white TV's today is gone, so are black and white resumes. Your resume needs to have at least a dash of colour. Click here to download a modernly designed resume template that you can use to market your skills, talents and abilities.

These are a handful of our secrets, if you would like to learn more, send us an email info@theperfectresume.com.au