IndustryJobs recently spoke to Martin Smith, the manager of the Careers Service at the University of Wollongong, about what he thinks should be included as the key ingredients when putting together a stunning CV.

In your opinion, what is the best way to write a resume?

My belief is that the whole job search process should be based on effective research. In fact, those great career educators - Abba - knew exactly what they were talking about when they sang: “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” That idea is really at the corner stone of all effective job search processes. It plays down into the resume itself. Every candidate needs to have spent a lot of time reflecting upon themselves and their audience because when you know the circumstances of your audience, then you are able to come up with a convincing case in the resume, on the phone, on paper, or in person, etc.. Research really is the key.

So step one involves doing the research. Look into the industry you are thinking about entering; the organisation you want to join; its culture; structure; products; services; competitors; the challenges that you will be presented with and then you can reflect upon yourself. Once you have done this, you can then think: “O.K., given all of these circumstances, I believe that what I need to be showcasing or highlighting within my document is X,Y and Z.”

I think that if people leave out that research side of things and just jump into: “Oh, here’s an advert, I’ll just apply for it”, and start putting their resume together without much thought, then they are going to miss the mark. In terms of the research they should do on themselves, they need to reflect on their own education qualifications, their working experiences and what particular skills they might have to offer. They should also think about what kind of extra curricular activities they might have that would be relevant.

What do you do once you’ve done all of this research?

After conducting the research, the candidate needs to carry out an objective audit of how realistic his/her chances are of getting the job. For example, if the employer’s wish list is ABC, D and E, the candidate might think: “Well, I’m very strong at A, B, C and D and so I’m going to apply”. Or he/she might think: “I’m really strong at A,B and C, and a little bit of D, but not so much E, but, it’s still worth giving it a shot”.

They could also think: “I’m strong at A and B, but I haven’t got those other 3 things, so maybe I shouldn’t waste my time applying for it”. So a resume should always be tailored according to the needs of the audience.

Should the resume be put together according to a set structure?

There’s some evidence to suggest that employers  will look at the first page most carefully, so if you’re strengths are in your professional experiences, or your qualifications, then they should be on your first page, rather than somewhere at the end of the second page.

What if the best place you worked at was 5 years ago? Is it wise to still keep the resume in reverse chronological order?

You would still need to arrange the CV in an order that makes sense, but I think that reverse chronological is best normally, so that the reader can see what you are doing now, what you were doing before, and what you were doing before that. However, if your most relevant role was 3 positions ago, then it would be best to arrange it in normal chronological order.

How can you really capture the employer’s attention in a resume?

You need to be thinking about what your strengths are in relation to the job and the opportunity they are offering. Given that they might only have 45 or 60 seconds to review your CV, and they might not even look at it (they could use an electronic tool instead to scan it), you need to make sure that your strengths are on that first page. But you also need to make sure that you start off very strong at the top of the page. Personally, I’m a big supporter of competency resumes, or skills based resumes. What I suggest is that after you have written down your personal details, the first thing the reader should see is a list of skills that connect with the actual position.

For example, the employer’s wish list for the role might include the desire for somebody who is good at problem solving; has a capacity to communicate with professionals and somebody who pays close attention to detail. It would be nice for you to lead off with some strong positive statements about those areas. But it’s not sufficient for you to just say: “I’m a good communicator and I have strong leadership skills”. Sure, you need to make that claim, but you also need to back it up with some evidence. The evidence only needs to be a two or three line statement. Two lines should be enough – something like: “I have a proven capacity to lead and inspire others” – that’s the claim. Then you can support it with a statement, such as: “Honed through six years of project management experience in the construction and manufacturing sectors.” You’ve made the claim and you’ve also explained how you developed those skills. It is a good idea to have a section like that in the skills section at the start of your resume. It draws the employer’s eye in to find your best qualities.  

This skills section at the start can also be called “professional skills” or “work related skills”. Remember to use the claim at the start and then back it up with statements mentioned in other sections, such as in the employment, education, extra curricular activities areas. Do whatever you need to substantiate or back-up what you said in that first section.

Do resumes for industrial or engineering jobs need to be written differently?

I don’t think so. It still involves talking to an audience that has a wish list and your aim is to try to give them confidence about the fact that you have got what they are looking for. That would apply to all areas, including industrial, manufacturing, retail and education vacancies.

If your CV is run through a scanner, what does it be look for?

You need to make sure you use buzz words so that the scanning can pick them up. For instance, the employer could be looking for initiative on the wish list. If so, then you will need to include this buzz word and also spell it correctly, otherwise the electronic scanner won’t pick it up.

Are scanners used commonly these days?

Yes, for some of the larger corporate employers, which deal with high volumes, and large numbers of applications. But it’s still very likely to be read by the human eye eventually, so you’ve got to make sure you cover both of the bases.

Should your CV be short and snappy?

Yes, it should be snappy, short and succinct. It is definitely not the place for flowery and expressive language. The covering letter or email is usually the place to show more energy and enthusiasm in the language. The resume is a more formal document and does need to be short and snappy. In that regard, the length of the document should be somewhere between two and three pages long. Unless of course you are somebody with 25 years of experience and you have very relevant experience to the role. In that case, the CV could be four or five pages long. There are some industries that will accept resumes that are even longer, for example, in education. But I would imagine somebody in the industrial area would expect somewhere between two and four pages, although two or three would be ideal.

It also depends upon the seniority of the role. If you’re somebody that has been working professionally for two years, you cold probably get away with three, but again, your audience will determine this. For example, if you’re sending a resume to an employer in the U.S., they will only look at a one page document. But because it has to be one page, this means that it has to have an immediate impact in terms of the presentation of the document. Here in Australia we have a lot of white space on the page, so it looks pleasing to the eye and is easier to read.

In the U.S., the headings will be centre justified and the text will run all the way from the left to the right. Overall, U.S. CVs are much more text heavy in appearance. But employers in the U.S. are used to seeing this, so they cope with that on one page.

Here in Australia, they’re more interested in something that is a little bit more user friendly to the eye. Australian CVs are very similar to U.K. and Asian CVs. It’s really America and South America that go for the one page phenomenon.

What advice would you give to somebody about formatting and shaping boxes?

When it leaves your computer and goes to somebody else’s computer, it might enter a different software programme, or an scanning system, so it is very important to keep it simple. Using lots of boxes, shading, for example, is not going to look good. Simple, easy to read fonts should be used, so long as the headings are clearly identifiable. So if an employer really wants to hone in very quickly on your experience, referees, or extra curricular activities, this will make it easy for them to spot these details.

How can you make sure that your CV stands up above the rest?

It just needs to look smart and presentable and try to have some consistency in the way things line up on the page. You know, if you have some headings indented and others not indented and other text indented half way in, that won’t look good. Have a look at samples to get a sense of what I mean there. It’s also not good to have a section broken up by a page break. So, say for example that your 3^rd heading is about education. It’s not good to have one entry for education and then over the page you have another entry for education. It’s nice to spread things out evenly on the page. A new page should include a new heading.

Are mission statements worth using?

It is my belief that mission statements and career objections don’t always work. If you make it quite specific you could miss the mark and if you make it too general it’s not going to have any appeal. But maybe you could use it in a covering letter to talk a little bit about your enthusiasm regarding going in a particular direction. But having said that, some people can come up with a very nicely worded and tailored career or mission statement in their resume for that particular audience.

What is more important, education or work?

Well, with somebody who is 10 years out of University, it’s going to be the work background that is most relevant. But if you are 6 months out of Uni then the qualification will still be very relevant.

I think both details need to be there. For some people, the education details could appear on the 2^nd page, but normally they appear on the 1^st page - it depends on experience.

Does education still matter after 10 years?

It’s a given, but not a deciding factor. But if you have done a masters in the last two years and you have also been working for 10 years, then you might want to mention that you picked up a masters two years ago. Similarly, a masters in engineering practice, or a masters in industrial engineering 18 months ago might be very good to include early in the document. It depends upon the individual.  

How about framing the document?

You can frame your document in a way that projects you as a professional and somebody who has been on a path for a number of years. It might be that somebody who has been working for six years actually worked in retail after they first left University, before entering manufacturing for four years. Rather than just putting down your experience or work background, it might be worth using “professional experiences” as a header. This can include paid and unpaid work. For example, you might have done something on a voluntarily basis overseas, which was related to the profession and the industrial sector that you are going for. This paid or unpaid experience could be listed in reverse chronological order. Taking that on board, you could list professional skills, professional experiences and then professional memberships. For instance, an employee might be a member of Engineers Australia, or an Australian institution. So this framing on the first page give the impression that the candidate is a professional and has been on a career path for a number of years.

But then how do you deal with issue of the retail work this person did?

You would create another section called: “Other employment” and just list the other things you did there. You can also tailor it to match the requirements of the job you are going for. That experience could still have helped you to develop skills relevant to the new job you are going for.

How importance is volunteering work?

You can find a way to make it relevant. For example, it could be very important if it has developed your capacity to work well with other people, or has developed your insights into the non-government sector, for example. If you can see transferability between the sector you are looking at and the sector you have been in, then it should be there. 

What are the key, universal qualities that employers look for in a CV?

Research done five years ago by the Business Council of Australia, and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, looked at developing a framework for employability based on skills, after enormous consultation. They identified main areas that are very important to employment, such as: – initiative, communication, team work, technology, problem solving, self management, planning and learning. So you can see that it’s not all just hard skills that are important. Soft skills, such as self management and learning are very important too. This idea of learning on the job and being able to develop yourself and do that effectively comes down to being able to manage yourself. Career development concepts are based on self awareness, reflecting on opportunities, making appropriate decision and action planning.

There’s been lots of studies done on what employers want. Another big study that was conducted in UK a few years back is still relevant now. It found that employers look for employees who are good at team work, are good communicators, can develop relationships, can be persuasive, can be self reliant and are capable of making important decision making.

Another study was conducted about what the top 500 CEOS in the world look for in an ideal worker of the future. This study found that they look for somebody who knows how to think, how to relate and how to use technology properly. So all these studies had similar conclusions.

For more information about how to write a resume, visit: http://www.uow.edu.au/careers/publications/TheEdge.html

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