Jobs & Money Detail
Time to brush up your Australian CV
If you’re looking for a job in Oz, take note as Lana Clements finds out how to bring your CV up to scratch by Australian standards
Job hunting, in any situation, is a tough chore. However, the difficulty seems to multiply when you are searching for employment in another country. Your Curriculum Vitae (CV) is an extremely important part of your job-seeking arsenal. And while you may know how to set it out here in Britain, are the standards different in Australia? Knowing more about how to format a CV which will appeal to employers Down Under can put you in a much stronger position when it comes to finding a job.
It's so important to get your CV right – often employers only scan them, especially if they have a stack to look at. Diane Townson from Hays recruitment recommends that "Your resume should be a professional sales document." In otherwords your CV needs to promote yourself enough to gain yourself the all important interview. British employers expect CVs to be between one and two pages long, however, this is not the case in Australia. "Typical Australian CVs are between four–six pages in length, quite a difference from the UK," explains Jenny Lynch, Director at recruitment specialists Witan Jardine. "The best way to format your CV is to start with a page stating all your qualifications, education and any other potentially useful information, such as language skills; when you will be available to start work from; and what type of visa you hold, explains Jenny. "Not forgetting your contact details, of course. "The next page will ideally be a career outline, this will include current/previous employers, your role at each company and dates of employment. From this point you will then go into each role in much more detail than expected in Britain. Bullet points are the best method as this makes the CV easy to read." Jenny continues, "Page three should be used for going through your career experience in detail. The last page can be used for information such as hobbies and activities outside of work."
Diane advises you to: "list your work experience in chronological order, beginning with the most recent. Include employer names, positions held and primary responsibilities. Also, where appropriate, include an indication of salary level achieved and reasons for leaving each position." You may find it difficult to expand on your career experience, especially if you are used to summarising as you do on a British CV. Try to think about the skills that the employer will be looking for, how you can fulfil these objectives and make sure that this is emphasised on paper. If you are still struggling to fill the space, imagine the information you would provide at an interview to sell yourself and try to capture it in a few key statements.
According to Jenny, there is no need to worry about translating your British qualifications. "Australian employers have being dealing with British immigrants for a large number of years and therefore, most are aware of the British and Australian equivalent qualifications, particularly school education qualifications," she says. "Bachelors are the same worldwide, as are professional qualifications." Many people worry about listing appropriate hobbies on a CV. Jenny, however, says details about your employment skills are much more important and should probably take more of your attention: "Hobbies and non-work related interests help to show more about your personality and life outside of the office environment. Best to keep these until the end, let the potential employers see your skills and experience first as these are the key criteria for the roles in question."
Generally, CVs should be tailored to the particular company you are applying to. This is a time consuming task, but is worth it in the long run. Diane mentions some other points to consider when cultivating your CV: "It is the first impression your potential employer will have of you, so take the time to get it right. If possible, even get someone to proof read your resume to check for any spelling, layout or typing errors." If you are applying for jobs over the Internet, Diane advises that you "Attach your resume to an email, rather than pasting the text into your email programme. "Pasting text into an email programme sometimes causes text to appear on the recipient's screen in a distorted or muddled mess, making it very difficult to read. Also, make sure the e-mail address you use appears professional!" Jenny agrees, " If you are emailing your CV overseas send it in a standard Word document. However, if you are posting it use high quality white paper."
Finally, should the fact that you are British, not Australian, be addressed on your CV? "There are two ways to view this," answers Jenny. "Firstly with the view that you are entering a new market place and may not have previous 'local' working knowledge. "Secondly with the view that you have previous UK / European experience and in certain sectors this can be advantageous as, you have worked in a larger market (Financial Services is an example of one area). Therefore it is often a good idea to highlight your UK work experience. If you have worked in Australia previously make this clear on your CV, this will show future employers that you are not emigrating at the drop of a hat."
If you put the time and effort into creating a decent CV it will essentially come across to the people that are viewing it. Should you need additional help, there are plenty of
Internet sites and companies that offer sound employment advice, free of charge, so don't hesitate to ask for help.
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